Ginny Weasley and the Chamber of Secrets
by Sgarnett99
Summary: We all know how Harry felt in the crazy year when the chamber was opened, but what about Ginny, who was possessed by Voldemort? Follow the journey of her first year and how Tom Riddle convinced her to open the Chamber of Secrets and set a monster on innocent students. T cause I'm paranoid, Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. My hiatus is over!
1. Special Visitor

**A/N: Hi all, here is the first chapter of my new story! Hope you guys enjoy it, I'd love your feedback :)**

-CHAPTER 1-

_Special Visitor_

Ginny Weasley lay in her bed at sunrise, the summer breeze from the open window gently tickling her hair against her face. She had absolutely no idea that in not even a few hours, she'd be face-to-face with the one and only Harry Potter, whom she'd been crushing on for the last ten months, even though she barely knew him. See, Harry Potter was more than just a twelve year old boy. He had defeated You-Know-Who, blasted him to bits, killed him, _something,_ when he was not even a _year _old. _She'd _certainly never done anything that remarkable. Not to mention, this crush had started when she'd seen him last year, boarding the train with her brother. And, ill-fitting clothes and taped glasses aside, he was undeniably good-looking.

Her peaceful sleep was soon interrupted though, by the sounds of shouting travelling through the lawn and into her window. _'Beds empty! No note! Car gone…could have crashed… out of my mind with worry…did you care?... never, as long as I've lived…you wait until your father gets home, we've never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy…'_

Someone muttered something unintelligible and Ginny's mother started yelling again. Ginny rolled over with a groan, cursing whoever was getting in trouble. Fred or George, probably. There was a digital muggle clock on her nightstand. It had been a present from her father-who worked for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department- for her ninth birthday. The clock was mostly useless, but it was perfect if you wanted to know the time. The bright green letters read four A.M.

She tried to get back to sleep, but found it hard. Ginny kept wondering what was going on, especially because now, her mother was clattering around in the kitchen, making breakfast or something. She was talking, too. After several futile attempts to sleep, Ginny walked downstairs one creaky flight of wooden stairs to the vacant rooms of her brothers Bill and Charlie, down another to Percy's room and the bathroom, where she ran a brush through her flaming hair once and smoothed down her nightgown. She walked into the kitchen to see her older brothers Fred, George, and Ron, eating breakfast. Then her eyes landed on a boy with too-big clothes, green eyes, unruly jet-black hair, and round glasses.

Harry Potter.

Yes, she was aware that she'd had a huge crush on him, but seeing him, in her kitchen, was embarrassing. Too embarrassing. She had never felt younger and more insignificant in her life. So instead of striding over like celebrity boys appeared in her house every day, and acting normal, perhaps starting a conversation with Harry, she did the natural thing. She gave high-pitched squeal, then turned on her heel and ran up the stairs, into her room and collapsed onto her bed.

_Stupid! Why didn't you act normal? Harry isn't full of himself, or petty, or… I don't know! _She thought miserably. According to Ron's letters to home, Harry was a normal boy who didn't even know he was a wizard until his Hogwarts letter. And she was idiot enough to scream at the mere sight of him.

Still, she was curious to know why he was here with her brother at four in the morning eating breakfast. And why her mother was up. So, she crept back down the stairs- a hard task, since the stairs at the Weasley home were so creaky- and hovered on the landing while listening to the conversation.

'And woe betide you if there's a single gnome left when I come out and inspect it' was all she made out, and then there was some grumbling as the four boys walked outside. So they were going outside, to do some sort of chore- what had her mother said? Gnome? Oh. They were de-gnoming the garden? Maybe. The only question was why were they doing that at this hour, why were they even awake, and why was Harry Potter there?

Ginny walked downstairs. 'Hi, mum.'

'Oh, hello Ginny dear. What are you doing up at this hour?'

'I could ask the same of you.'

'Well,' Molly Weasley fumed, 'If you must know, your three brothers drove that flying car of your father's last night _all _the way out to Harry's aunt and uncle's house in Surrey, rescued him because he wasn't returning their letters, and came back here! Do you know how dangerous that is? They're de-gnoming the garden now.'

'Right. So, is Harry going to be here the whole summer?' Ginny inquired.

'Yes-' her stomach did a little leap- 'and speaking of, why did you squeal the moment you saw him? He's such a nice boy, and certainly nothing to be _afraid _of. Wait. Do you- do you _fancy-'_

'No, mum!' Ginny cut her off loudly. 'I was surprised to see him here, that's all.'

'Well, alright,' she sighed, 'do you want some breakfast?

'Yes please. Has my Hogwarts letter come yet?'

'No, Ginny. I keep telling you, just be patient! It'll come.'

Ginny gave a sigh and then ate the egg, sausages and bread her mother had put out. _It _will _come, _she told herself. Her brothers' booklists hadn't arrived yet either.

She wondered how excited she'd be when she finally got to Hogwarts and saw the huge castle with its towers and turrets and the lake that her brother talked about- and the Quidditch pitch where she'd become the Gryffindor chaser. Her brothers never let her play Quidditch at their paddock with them, but she had always stolen their brooms and practiced when they weren't home. She'd never been able to practice with a real quaffle of course but she still enjoyed playing the game with crab apples.

Ginny ate her food quickly, in case her brothers and Harry Potter were to come back inside from de-gnoming. Then she ran up to her room, thanking her mother for breakfast.

Ginny opened the door, looking at the little room as if inspecting it. She had one poster of the captain of her favourite Quidditch team taped to the wall, above her desk, and another of the band The Weird Sisters on her closet door. In the corner was her small bed and a dresser at the end; a closet was on the other side of her room beside the desk. The blanket on her bed was a quilt her mother had knitted a long time ago. It was bright green. She sighed and stared out the window, watching as her brothers and Harry snatched the little Gnomes up and lassoed them around before tossing the little creatures over their hedge. She'd always felt bad for them, watching the little creatures going flying past her window, but her pity would quickly leave when she had to de-gnome the garden herself. It wasn't the most enjoyable job.

She stared down at her little desk, where a Hogwarts letter sealed with red wax would lie. She could almost see it now…

A door slammed and her brothers started shouting. 'He's back! Dad's home!' They abandoned their de-gnoming job and ran inside. Ginny's father had been away since this time last morning at his work, which was seemingly becoming more and more demanding by the day. He'd been raiding houses for the past week, looking for muggle artifacts that had been misused, and apparently had been finding some Dark Arts objects in a few houses. He would no doubt come in, eat a hearty breakfast, stumble into his bedroom, and fall fast asleep. Even though she wanted to see him, she couldn't blame him if he was tired.

She crept down to the first landing just out of sight of everyone in the kitchen, and listened to the conversation going on. Her mother seemed to be getting angry at her father for one reason or another, and then she heard Ron mutter, 'Let's leave them to it.'

She bolted up three sets of stairs into her room and left the door open a crack to watch the two boys ascend the stairs. When they got to her landing, she caught one glimpse of Harry looking at her before she felt her eyes go wide and she slammed the door shut, leaning against it and breathing heavily. She didn't really know why she was so worried about seeing him; but she'd heard something about always acting strangely in front of the person you liked.

'Ginny,' a voice, Ron's, said. 'You don't know how weird…' the voice drifted out of earshot.

Finally thinking it would be safe to go down, Ginny descended the stairs for the fourth time that morning and passed her brothers on the stairwell.

'Well, Ginny,' Fred said. 'We saw how you reacted with Harry Potter this morning.'

'I don't suppose you…. Like him?' George asked with a grin.

'_No!'_ Ginny yelled, and shoved them out of her way. She went down the last flight of stairs, and saw her parents arguing loudly. She rolled her eyes.

'Hi, dad.'

'Ginny!' Her father replied, giving her a quick hug. 'How are you?'

'Good,' she said 'You're tired, I guess?'

'I was up all night last night raiding houses. In fact, I think I'll go to bed now…'

Ginny sat down at the table and stared blankly out the window. When Harry and Ron came down, she hurried up the stairs, determined not to look at either of them, and sat in her room for a few hours, just thinking.

The next few days passed the same way. Arthur, her father, asked Harry all about muggle objects and how they worked, Ginny hid from Harry except for at meal times, and spent her days reading up in the willow tree that reached three stories up to her bedroom window. When she did have to be in the same room as Harry, she often knocked things over. That was always embarrassing. And one fateful morning, Ginny walked down the stairs, thinking that her Hogwarts acceptance letter would never come.

'Ginny, dear,' her mother said. 'Would you like breakfast?'

'Alright,' she replied, not bothering to ask again if the letter arrived today, when she heard a cawing. Two well-groomed barn owls and Errol, their old beat-up one, were flying towards the window; Ginny ran up and let wrenched the kitchen sink window open as they swooped in. Well, the barn owls did, at least- Errol collapsed in the sink and Ginny carried him over and put him in a chair. Each owl had at least one letter attached to its leg: Ginny eagerly tore two notes off one owl's leg. They were addressed to Fred and George Weasley. She set those on the table.. Errol's letter was one from Ron's friend, Hermione Granger. Two on the second owl were for Ron and Harry. The last letter read:

_Miss G Weasley_

_Second-smallest room_

_The Weasley House _

She tore the envelope open and unfolded the letter. It read:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore _

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Weasley,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. _

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl no later than 31 July. _

_Yours sincerely, _

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Ginny's mother had been reading the letter over her shoulder. 'Congratulations, dear! I knew you would get in. Let's take a look at your supply list…'

Ginny unfolded a second piece of paper and read, heart sinking when she saw the booklist.

Uniform

_First year students will require: _

_Three sets of plain robes (black) _

_One pointed hat (black) for day wear _

_One set of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags _

Set books

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by Miranda Goshawk _

A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot_

Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling _

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch_

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore_

Magical Drafts and Potions _by Aresnius Jigger _

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander_

Break with a Banshee _by Gilderoy Lockhart _

Gadding with Ghouls _by Gilderoy Lockhart_

Holidays with Hags_by Gilderoy Lockhart_

Travels with Trolls_by Gilderoy Lockhart_

Voyages with Vampires_by Gilderoy Lockhart_

Wanderings with Werewolv_es__by Gilderoy Lockhart_

Year with the Yeti_by Gilderoy Lockhart_

Other Equipment

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) _

_1 set glass or crystal phials _

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

That was all. 'Mum… aren't Lockhart books _expensive?'_

'Well... yes, Ginny, but I suppose we can get all of your books second hand, and Charlie has some old dragon-hide gloves and phials… and Bill left his old cauldron in his room, I mean, apart from stains it's all right… Percy got a new telescope in fourth year, so you could use his, I suppose…' Molly Weasley trailed off, looking troubled.

Ginny nodded. She understood that, being the youngest child in a poor family, she would get many second-hand things, she'd been expecting it. She couldn't help feeling disappointed, though, because she didn't want to arrive at Hogwarts with old tattered books, a stained cauldron and ripped- up protective gloves.

Ron and Harry Potter came down the stairs, and Ginny reacted in surprise, sending her porridge bowl falling to the floor. She dived under the table to get it, and felt her face getting hot.

Fred and George walked down soon after, and read their lists as well.

'You've been told to get all Lockhart's books too!' Fred was saying to Harry. 'The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan- bet it's a witch.'

'That lot won't come cheap,' George looked at his parents. 'Lockhart's books are really expensive…'

'Well, we'll manage,' Mrs. Weasley said. I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things second-hand.'

Ginny suddenly heard Harry talking to her and looked up from her letter. '-Starting at Hogwarts this year?' she heard. Ginny nodded, casually setting her elbow on the table and feeling something very greasy on it. She looked down in horror, realizing that it was the butter dish. Fortunately, Percy, her older brother, had just arrived downstairs.

'Morning all,' he said in his usual pompous fashion. 'Lovely day.' Ginny wanted to roll her eyes; she didn't know how she was related to him.

Percy sat down and Ginny realized, too late, that he had just sat down in the chair where she'd put Errol after the pathetic bird collapsed. He leapt up almost immediately, and pulled the grey bird out from underneath him.

'Errol!' Ron exclaimed, picking the owl up and pulling the letter out from under his wing. 'Finally- he's got Hermione's answer. I wrote to her to say we were going to try to rescue you from the Dursley's.' He tore the letter open and read out loud, and when he finished, Mrs. Weasley said,

'Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get all your things then, too,' Ginny's mother replied. Hermione's letter had said Wednesday- that wasn't too far away. Molly began clearing the table and Ginny began to ascend the stairs.

'Mum, I'm going to find some of that old stuff you were telling me about,' she called.

In Charlie's room, there were indeed several pairs of gloves, so Ginny helped herself to the nicest one. Even those were a little battered, but they would do. Three sets of brass phials, two glass ones and one crystal set sat on the window sill. She took the crystal ones, and, upon finding they were cracked, chose the glass set.

In Bill's deserted room, there was a cauldron which she assumed was pewter and size 2. She put her things in it and proceeded to Percy's room, where she knocked on the door.

'Percy? Can I come in?'

He opened the door and raised an eyebrow. 'Yes. What is it?'

'Mum said you have an old telescope. I need it for school.'

Percy entered his closet and exited with an old dented silver telescope. She could tell that it had been second-hand before her, and she suspected several of the other things she'd buy would be, too.

That Wednesday, everyone woke early and ate the bacon sandwiches Mrs. Weasley had prepared. Ginny's mum pulled a flower pot off the kitchen mantle.

'We're running low, Arthur. We'll have to buy some more today… ah well, guests first! After you, Harry dear!'

She offered him the flower pot, which he stared at. Ginny waited for him to take some. And she waited. 'W-what am I supposed to do?' he asked, clearly confused.

'He's never travelled by floo powder. Sorry, Harry, I forgot,' Ron said.

'Never?' Arthur asked. 'But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your things last year?'

'I went on the Underground-'

'Really?' he asked, sounding eager. 'Were there _escapators? _How exactly-'

Ginny's mother cut him off with a stern 'Not _now, _Arthur!'

Fred did a demonstration of how floo powder was used and then disappeared. George followed. Ginny's father went after and then Harry stepped into the grate. He took a pinch of powder and then stepped into the grate. 'D-Dia-gon Alley,' he choked out.

'That didn't sound good,' Ron commented.

'Oh, I just hope he gets off at the right place,' Molly said with a worried look. 'Your turn, Ginny dear.'

Ginny took a pinch from the flower pot herself and stepped into the warm fireplace. 'Diagon Alley!' She said, loudly and clearly, and felt flames suddenly swirling around her. She span and span until she felt like she would be sick, and caught blurry glimpses of fireplaces beyond the flames. She was used to travelling by floo powder, of course, but had always found it uncomfortable.

Finally, she felt her legs knock hard against stone and saw the Leaky Cauldron bar in front of her. Fred, George and her father were waiting.

'Harry!' Mr. Weasley exclaimed 'We were beginning to think you weren't com- Ginny? I thought Harry left before you.'

'He did,' Ginny frowned. 'Right before.'

Ron emerged. He got up, brushed some soot off his pants, and looked around, confused. 'Harry's not here? Where is he?'

'That seems to be the question of the day,' Arthur said. 'Molly will have a right fit…'

'Well, she's coming now,' Ron said unhelpfully as Molly appeared in the grate.

'Harry's in the bathroom?' She asked, looking unconcerned.

'Er- well, we don't quite know… he should have arrived before Ginny and after me,' Arthur said with a grimace.

'You mean you've _lost _him?' Molly gasped, her eyes bulging in horror.

'Well... _misplaced _is probably a better term, but-'

'Arthur!' Mrs. Weasley shrieked whilst Fred and George began snickering into their palms. Ron looked frightened though, exactly how Ginny felt. You couldn't just simply _lose _the Boy Who Lived. It was the exact sort of thing her family would manage to do.

'Well! We have to find him, so Ginny and I will go down to Pike Alley, the rest of you look around here. If he isn't in the next two grates, then…' she trailed off. 'Come on, Ginny!'

Ginny ran with her mother past the other group to Pike Alley, barely clinging her mother's hand, panting. They turned down the side street and then began entering every small shop, asking if a stray boy with dark hair and glasses had turned up. After ten minutes, however, the little Pike Alley shops turned into houses and the two were forced to go back. 'Let's go, Ginny,' Molly said, running again, her handbag swinging wildly in her left hand and Ginny clutching her other.

Finally, they rounded the corner and headed back down the main street, where Ginny noticed a large figure with a skinny, dark-haired boy and bushy-haired girl talking to- to her father and brothers. 'Mum, look! It's Harry, mum!'

They set off running once again down the crowded street. 'Oh, Harry- oh, my dear-you could have been anywhere-' she gasped, extracting a large brush from her handbag and brushing soot off of him. Ginny looked away and didn't say anything- she was, however, very glad that Harry had been found- and not _really _because of her crush on him. Well, that was mostly the reason.

Soon they entered the large, polished marble bank. Ginny had been here her fair share of times, but was always amazed by the sheer size and grandeur of the place. The break-neck ride down to the vaults was always fun. Seeing the sparse amount of change in their vault wasn't. She tried not to dwell on it, though, because now her and her mother had an hour before going to Flourish and Blotts to buy all of her supplies for the year. Ginny eagerly followed Mrs. Weasley, ready to shop.


	2. Tom's Diary

**A/N: Yayyyyy, another update! :) Since I'm the kind of person that gets excited about three reviews, I decided to update! This one is a little shorter, most of the chapters will range from 5-8ish pages. Apologies if they're too long... but oh well! Enjoy! **

**Oh, and don't expect two updates in two days normally ;P unless I feel like it...  
**

-CHAPTER 2-

_Tom's Diary_

The closest shop to Gringotts' bank was Ollivander the wand maker, where Ginny would finally, after eleven painful years of waiting, buy her wand. She was the one dragging her mother around this time, even though in the back of her mind she knew her family truly didn't have the money for it; it was the only thing Ginny would be getting first-hand, just because there was no wand in the family to give her.

A small bell chimed as the two entered the old, musty, stale-smelling shop. Ginny could see past the counter into the back, where box upon box upon shelf of wands were just waiting for her to try them. She had heard stories about a few of her brothers-Bill, Charlie and Percy, at least- getting their wands, how it had taken Bill three-quarters of an hour to find the wand that fit him.

'Well, hello Molly!' A slightly hoarse voice said from the back. Mr. Ollivander stepped into the front. 'It's been so long! Were you hoping for a wand inspection? Or is another child coming for their first wand?'

Mr. Ollivander had thin, white hair and very wrinkly skin. He was clearly very old, but still seemed to be loving his job in wandlore. 'It's Ginny's turn, this year,' Mrs. Weasley said. 'She's the first since Percy to be getting a brand-new wand,' Ginny's mum swelled with pride.

'Ah, hello, Ginny,' Ollivander looked at her. 'I remember seeing you when you were just a baby, when Bill came in here for his wand.'

'I don't,' confessed Ginny.

'No matter, no matter,' Mr. Ollivander said good-naturedly. 'Could I have your wand arm, please?'

Ginny held out her left hand and a tape measure began measuring the space between her wrist and elbow, her armpit and the floor, and, for some reason, the circumference of her head. Meanwhile, Mr. Ollivander shuffled through boxes in the back. She could just hear his voice as he piled boxes into his arms. 'Your family has quite a history of unicorn-tail hair wands,' he informed her. 'However, first I'll have you try… this' he handed Ginny a long, thin box. Inside was a pale, thin wand. 'Eleven inches, quite stiff, birch and dragon heartstring. Give it a wave.'

She gripped the wand and flicked it. Nothing happened.

Ollivander snatched the wand away in an instant. 'No, not this one…' try this. The wand felt rather heavy in Ginny's hand and was very long.

'No,' she replied. 'Doesn't fit.'

'Alrighty then…how about this?' He asked. The next wand exploded a flower vase. Ginny set it down with trembling hands.

'Sorry,' she whispered.

'No matter… ah. OK. This wand is eleven inches, with arbutus wood and a core of unicorn mane-hair- you would be surprised at how different the tail and mane are.'

Ginny picked up what felt like the millionth wand and waved it again. Amazingly, the vase that she'd shattered on the floor repaired itself, leaving only a puddle of water on the floor.

Ollivander gave an impressed nod. 'Very few could use a non-verbal repairing charm and have it work before even entering Hogwarts,' he said. 'I believe this wand is yours.' Ginny swelled with pride and carefully placed it back in the tissue-covered box while Mrs. Weasley paid. Soon they were on their way.

'Thanks, mum, for the wand,' Ginny said. 'I know it's expensive.'

'It's no problem, Ginny dear, now, we have to go to Madam Malkin's second-hand to buy your robes.'

'Madam Malkin does second-hand?' Ginny asked.

'Right next door to the original shop, yes, it's still owned by her,' Ginny's mum replied as they hurried down the packed street.

Madam Malkin's did indeed have a second-hand shop next door to it, Ginny saw with a sinking heart. They entered the store and Ginny pulled the school list out of her pocket. 'I need three sets of black robes, one black cloak with silver fastenings, and a pointed black hat for day wear,' Ginny rattled off.

Madam Malkin, a squat lady dressed in mauve robes, walked over to them. 'Time for your first robe fitting?' She asked cheerfully.

'Yes,' Ginny replied. 'Although I'm getting second-hand ones.'

'Alright, well, I think you'd be a small,' she said. 'Why don't you try on these, and in the meantime I'll find a cloak for you?'

'Thanks,' Ginny said, going into the back dressing room and trying on the set of robes. There was a small hole near the bottom and the sleeves were too short, but it would have to do. She exited holding the robes and then was given the cloak to put on over her regular wear. One of the fastenings had fallen off.

'Well, that should do it,' Madam Malkin said, 'and since we have a universal hat size, you can take this one.' Mrs. Weasley paid for the clothing. They went to a cheap little store and Ginny, with her pocket money, bought a long roll of parchment and several quills, plus two inkpots.

'Ginny dear, we'd better go meet up with everyone at Flourish and Blott's. By the way, dear, where's your cauldron?'

'What?' Ginny asked.

'To carry your books and robes,' her mother replied impatiently.

Ginny realised then that she had completely forgotten to take her cauldron with her when they left the Burrow. 'Uh... sorry mum, I forgot,' she admitted.

With a sigh, Ginny's mum gave a flick of her wand and muttered something under her breath. In no time, an old cauldron came zooming through the crowds and fell with a clatter at their feet. Ginny gave her mother an impressed glance and put her robes and wand inside.

The two headed for the bookshop, where several witches and wizards were milling around, pushing to get in the store. Ginny frowned, never having seen it this full before, and then read the large banner:

GILDEROY LOCKHART

\will be signing copies of his autobiography

_MAGICAL ME_

Today 12.30-4.30 pm

'Look, mum!' Exclaimed Ginny, gesturing to the banner. 'Lockhart's doing a signing today.'

'Well!' Mrs. Weasley said excitedly, smoothing down her hair. 'I guess we'd better get a place at the front, then?' she asked, blushing. Ginny noticed that most of the people there were witches around her mother's age, and they were acting the exact same way she was. She rolled her eyes.

'Mum, I'll be getting my other books,' she called, and made for the back- the second-hand section. She picked up old, battered copies of everything on the list.

Ginny found her mum at the front with the rest of the Weasley family, minus Harry, Ron and Hermione. Soon though, the missing three came up and stood with the rest of the group. 'Oh, there you are, good,' said Mrs. Weasley. 'We'll be able to see him in a minute…'

Sure enough, Gilderoy Lockhart came into view slowly and sat down at a table full of pictures of himself, all beaming and winking. Lockhart wore expensive-looking robes of forget-me-not blue the colour of his eyes, and a matching hat perched on his dark blonde hair.

A short little man took photo after photo in front of them. 'Out of the way, there! This is for the _Daily Prophet_,' he spat at Ron, stepping on his toe. Ginny wanted to shove him out of the way but decided it would probably get her kicked out of the store on her one chance to meet Gilderoy Lockhart.

Lockhart beamed at the crowd for a moment, shifted his gaze to Ron and the irritable photographer, then his eyes fell on Harry. He positively jumped to his feet and yelled, 'It _can't _be Harry Potter?'

A hushed silence fell over the crowd and they parted, whispering to each other excitedly.

Lockhart reached over the front of the table and snatched Harry's arm, pulling him forward for the crowd. He enthusiastically shook Harry's hand while the little photographer madly clicked the button on his camera. Ginny wrinkled her nose as thick smoke wafted over her family's heads.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!' Lockhart beamed. 'When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography-' Ginny doubted that, if Harry had the same attitude towards Gilderoy Lockhart that her brothers did- '-which I shall be happy to present to him now, free of charge-' the audience clapped- '-he had no _idea-_' Lockhart shook his hand again- '-that he would shortly be getting much more than my book, _Magical Me. _He and his school fellows will, in fact, be getting the real, magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry!'

The audience cheered and Ginny's mother let out a squeal. Ginny wanted to squeal herself- just think! Her first year at Hogwarts, and she had one of the biggest Wizard celebrities as her teacher!

She noticed Harry had managed to sneak away from Lockhart and the cameras. He was staggering with the weight of all eight Lockhart books. He came over to her and mumbled, 'you can have these.' He tipped them into her cauldron and she turned bright red, looking up, 'I'll buy my own-'

Ginny was about to either protest or stutter a thank-you, but was interrupted by a drawling voice that made Harry straighten up with a frown. 'Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?' Ginny found herself looking at a boy with a pale, pointed face and blonde hair wearing a sneer. '_Famous _Harry Potter. Can't even go into a _bookshop_ without making the front page!'

Ginny found herself furious with the stranger. She, for one, had seen Harry's grimace and forced smiles for the camera and the way he had escaped the limelight as quickly as possible. Even though she was always too afraid to speak to him, Ginny felt she should stand up to the boy, who was clearly enemies with Harry at school.

'Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!' The trembling words had escaped her mouth without permission. She sounded like a little kid, but she still glared at the boy.

\ 'Potter, you've got yourself a _girlfriend!_' Exclaimed the boy in surprise, causing Ginny's cheeks to go from pink to scarlet. Thankfully, at that moment Ron and Hermione walked over clutching their books.

'Oh, it's you,' Ron said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. 'Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?'

'Not as surprised as I am to see you in a bookshop, Weasley,' he retorted. 'I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for that lot.'

Ron, brighter red than Ginny at this point, dropped his books and headed for the boy- whom Ginny was beginning to hate- but was held back by Harry and Hermione, who Ginny had never met. She had large front teeth and very bushy hair, but Ginny supposed she was pretty anyways.

'Ron!' Ginny heard her father say, walking over with Fred and George. 'What are you doing? It's mad in here, let's go outside.'

'Well, well, well,' A cold voice said. Ginny looked up. 'Arthur Weasley.' A man who greatly resembled the boy who'd been taunting Ron and Harry stood with his hand on the boy's shoulder.

'Lucius,' Mr. Weasley gave a curt nod.

'Busy time at the Ministry, I hear. All those raids… I hope they're paying you overtime?' From the way he sneered like the young boy before him, Ginny could tell that they were family and that Lucy or whatever his name was and her father had the same kind of rivalry Harry and her brother had with the other boy.

He made towards Ginny and reached into her cauldron. She looked up at him in disgust. Lucy-or was it Lucius?- ignored her glossy new Lockhart books and pulled out an old, ripped copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. _

'Obviously not,' he drawled, mocking her copy. 'Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?'

Mr. Weasley spoke in the low tone he used when he was very angry with someone, usually Fred, George, or Fred and George. 'We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy,' he all but growled.

'Clearly,' Malfoy said. His pale eyes moved to people Ginny thought could only be Mr. and Mrs. Granger, as they stood behind their daughter apprehensively. 'The company you keep, Weasley… and I thought your family could sink no lower-' There was the thud of skin against metal as Ginny's dad kicked her cauldron as he flew towards Malfoy- he had thrown himself at the man, knocking over a bookcase. Several heavy, leather-bound spellbooks came crashing down. The crowd retreated in horror- Ginny's mum kept screaming ('no Arthur, no!' Like he was a badly behaved dog) and the twins egged him on ('Get him, Dad!') and finally the man who'd rescued Harry from Knockturn Alley earlier, who Ginny believed was named Rubeus Hagrid, waded over.

'Break it up there gents, break it up-' Hagrid pulled the brawling men apart and set them down like they were toy figurines. Both of them nursed minor injuries. Malfoy was still holding Ginny's book, which didn't look any more battered than before, but certainly thicker.

'Here, girl- take you book- it's the best your father can give you-' He snatched his son's shoulder and they exited the shop.

Hagrid said, 'Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur. Rotten ter the core, the whole family everyone knows that. No Malfoy's worth listenin' ter. Bad blood, that's what it is. Come on now- let's get outta here.' The group hurried up the street, the Granger parents shaking with fright and Mrs. Weasley lecturing Arthur the whole way. Ginny lugged her cauldron along, lagging behind them. The Grangers parted, and everyone helped themselves to the Floo powder that sat on mantle above the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace.

Once back at the Burrow, Ginny ran up to her room as quickly as she could with the weight of her cauldron slowing her down. She flopped down on her bed and tipped the contents of her cauldron onto it. Ginny knew all the rules about using wands at home if you were underage, so she left the wand in its box and began reading _the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1. _The first spell in there was _Lumos, _a simple one to create light. The counter-charm, to put the light out, was called _Nox._ There were some picture demonstrations and instructions on how to cast the spell, as well as a brief introduction to why it was useful. After skimming through part of that book, Ginny opened _a Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration _and, to her great surprise, a little black book fell out.

She turned it over curiously, and read on the back, _Tom Marvolo Riddle_. Ginny flipped through the old, yellowed pages but saw that there was absolutely no writing in it. She shrugged and, never having tried to start a journal before, dipped her new quill in the ink and scratched the date in the top corner. She then wrote,

_Dear Diary,_

_My name is Ginny Weasley and I am eleven years old. _

To her great surprise, the writing abruptly faded away. She rubbed the paper for any ink traces, frowning. Then something even odder occurred. More writing appeared.

_Hello Ginny, my name is Tom Riddle. _

**Thoughts? Review please! :)**_  
_


	3. Leaving the Burrow

**A/N: Well, I guess that wasn't too long a wait, eh? I always get excited, when I publish a new story, and update a lot at once. Don't expect it to last... I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's a bit longer... but anyways! reviews are appreciated!**

-CHAPTER 3-

_Leaving the Burrow_

Ginny felt several emotions at once. For one, she was very curious and wanted to write something in the book to see what else the book would write back. Secondly, she had learned to be very wary of pranks from her brothers the twins. It was quite possibly just a joke from them. And, thirdly, her father had always told her: 'Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps the brain.'

However, being a Weasley, curiosity took over and she wrote,

_Excuse me, but who are you? And how can a diary be talking back to me?_

Quickly, there was an answer. _Fifty years ago, when I was sixteen, this was my diary. I am but a memory of a very real boy. He was intelligent, and charmed this diary so that it could reply to its future owner. _

Ginny grinned. A talking diary! Better yet, of a sixteen-year old boy! She wondered absently whether the boy had been good-looking. And better still, her secrets would vanish as soon as she wrote them! She quickly dipped her quill in the inkpot and said, _well, Tom Riddle, I'm glad I came across you! _

_Why is that? _Came the loopy handwriting in reply.

_Well, _she wrote, _I'm quite nervous about going to Hogwarts. I'll be starting my first year there this fall. I have six brothers, and they've all got something going for them. Bill was head boy, Charlie's great at Quidditch, Percy's a model student, Fred and George- twins- are popular jokesters, and Ron- well, Ron's friends with Harry Potter!_

_I would be happy to talk about your brothers, but pardon if I ask who this Harry Potter is? _Riddle said in reply.

_You don't know? _Ginny wrote. _Well, I suppose, being from fifty years ago, you wouldn't. There was a man, named Lord Voldemort- please don't make me write the name again- who took power. He was a Dark wizard, Riddle. He was so powerful that everyone was- and still is- afraid to speak the name. We call him You-Know-Who. He tried to kill Harry Potter's parents when Harry was a baby, eleven years ago. I've heard great things about the Potters. They both died at his hands. But when You-Know-Who tried to kill baby Harry Potter, the curse backfired or something and You-Know-Who disappeared. Just think! Defeating that Dark wizard as a baby! He's still famous today, _she wrote, smiling at the thought of Harry.

_That is extraordinary, _came Tom's reply. _He seems like quite an admirable boy._

_Oh, but he is! _Ginny gushed to Riddle the diary. _He has the most amazing eyes, bright green. I heard they're like his mum's. He has hair like his dad's, but of course they're both dead. And he's so down-to-earth about his fame, too. He's in Gryffindor house! I hope I'm in Gryffindor. _

_I bet many fancy him, _Riddle replied.

_Well, Riddle, this is my first secret. I do! Although it's quite obvious. He never seems to notice me, Riddle! I always act foolish in front of him, it's so embarrassing. He did give me a whole load of books he got for free, though. They're books I wouldn't have been able to afford. _Ginny sighed.

_That was kind of him to give them to you. _Riddle wrote back. _He's clearly noticed you, to do something like that._

_I hope so, Riddle! I don't think he'll ever like me, though. I'm the youngest in a poor family of seven children, and I'll be going to Hogwarts with all sorts of second-hand stuff. My robes are too small, but it was too expensive to get them fitted._

_Richness isn't everything, _Riddle told her. _Especially for a seemingly bright young witch like yourself. _

Ginny smiled and blushed. She couldn't believe a diary could be this sympathetic. _Thanks, Riddle. I do hope he takes notice of me at Hogwarts. I have a lot to live up to, because of those six brothers of mine I was telling you about. _

'Ginny!' She heard her mother's voice call. 'Suppertime!'

_Oh, I have to go eat supper, Riddle, _she wrote dejectedly. _Promise you won't go anywhere?_

_I couldn't even if I ever wanted to, _he wrote back. _And call me Tom. _ Ginny smiled and all but skipped down the stairs.

She found it easier, now, to ignore Harry with the thought of talking to Tom later. Ginny volunteered to clear the table that night and did it as quickly as she could, then bolted up the stairs to get back to her newfound friend.

The days passed quickly with Tom to confide in. Ginny couldn't imagine what it would have been like without him and his advice. Some days, he barely wrote anything, just listened to her problems and sympathised. He seemed to think as highly of Harry Potter as she did, probably because her biased stories were all he heard. She explained to him one day, how she felt about her second-hand supplies. He seemed to understand completely.

_Dear Tom, _she had written, _I'll be going to Hogwarts in one days' time. I'm really quite nervous about going with all my old school things. My school books, robes, cauldron, telescope, even my book-bag, they all come from my brothers or the second hand shop. _

_Ginny, I don't think anyone could notice that after talking with you, _he responded. _Look at yourself! You don't need new robes. I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends. Besides, you have me, don't you?_

_Oh Tom, you're more than I could ask for in a friend. Who knew a diary could be so wonderful? But I have to go pack my bags- using Charlie's old trunk, I might add._

_Well, don't be gone too long, _he wrote.

Ginny first put her undergarments and toiletries in the trunk. She put all her apothecary ingredients together in a small bag, and set them aside. All of her books except for _Wanderings with Werewolves _and _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1_ went in the trunk as well. She threw in a few pairs of socks, some muggle clothes for weekends, then her potions ingredients, and finally, her school uniform, which she would change into on the train. George's old leather book-bag sat on her bed. She carefully put in her quills, parchment and ink, two books to read on the train and her brand-new arbutus and unicorn hair wand. She left her diary out, in case she wanted to write in it later. Her whole body was buzzing with excitement.

Ginny couldn't sleep, but when she finally did, she felt like she was being woken up right away and ushered downstairs by her mother.

She accepted the hot chocolate and toast, then ran upstairs to get dressed. Her father had already taken her trunk down to the car, and all there was left to do for her was dress herself and get in their old Ford Anglia.

However, the rest of the Weasley house was in a state of disaster. Fred kept running around asking if anyone had seen his socks, while Percy was complaining that someone had stolen his prefect badge. George was found hiding with both of those things. Ron couldn't find his quills. When the family finally got out the door, they were running very late.

It was then that Ginny realised she'd left the diary sitting on her night table.

'We have to go back!' She screeched in a panic.

'Why Ginny?' Her mother asked sharply.

'My diary! Mum, I forgot my diary, please mummy, can't we turn back!'

By the time Ginny had hopped back into the car clutching the little black book, they were running very low on time. The large clock at King's Cross station read 11.45, so Mr. Weasley dashed off to get trolleys and met them up at the station's entrance. The train left in ten minutes by the time they had reached the entrance to platform 9 ¾, everyone was panicked except for Ginny, whose chest was about to explode with excitement. Percy, Mr. Weasley, and then Fred and George, all strode forward confidently. Ginny went with her mother at a run, for her first time. They didn't hit the seemingly solid wall as she was always afraid of, but instead passed straight through it and ended up at the busy platform where children were saying last-minute good-byes to their parents and hopping on the scarlet steam engine. The train was bound to leave in less than a minute, so Ginny hugged her parents tightly.

'I'll write loads of letters,' she promised to her mother, who was crying a little.

'Alright, dear, it's just- my youngest child- off to- to Hogwarts already!' Ginny hugged them one last time and ran onto the train, not realising that Harry and Ron should have arrived by now. She went up and down the aisle, looking for an empty compartment, but then saw her brothers Fred and George with Lee Jordan, their friend, and some girls wearing gold and scarlet Gryffindor scarves. Percy would be up with the Prefects.

'Can I come in?' Ginny asked, eyeing a girl who looked like Fred's description of Angelina Johnson.

'No Ginny, go away,' said George. 'By the way, where're Ron and Harry?'

'Oh, so you'll talk to them but not me?' She snapped, and stomped off. She then noticed a compartment with just Hermione in it.

'Can I come in, Hermione?' Ginny asked. 'Everywhere else is full.'

'Yes, of course, it's Ginny, right?' Hermione asked. Ginny nodded, putting her trunk up on its shelf.

'Would you know where Ron and Harry are, then?' Hermione asked as the train departed.

'No, people have been asking that, but they should've arrived on the platform right after mum and me,' Ginny mused. She looked out the window with a grin; she was finally off to Hogwarts!'

'Alright, well, I'm going to look for them,' announced Hermione, pulling her trunk down from the shelf and exiting the compartment. 'Bye.'

Ginny didn't mind being alone again; it would've given her a chance to write to Tom again; but then, almost immediately, another girl entered the compartment.

'Do you mind if I join you?' She asked. 'No one else will let me in their compartment.' Ginny had to admit that the girl looked strange; she had very large, unblinking eyes and was wearing a necklace of what Ginny recognised as butterbeer corks. The girl had long, blonde hair. She was dragging her trunk and holding a magazine that Ginny thought said, _The Quibble._

'Sure. I'm Ginny Weasley,' she said cautiously and quickly stuffed her diary back in her book-bag. Ginny had an odd feeling that if a teacher found out about the diary, they'd think it was dangerous.

'Call me Luna,' the girl said. 'My father's Xenophilius Lovegood, editor of the magazine _The Quibbler.' _She displayed the magazine so Ginny could see the title.

Ginny had heard things about the Quibbler. It was considered a strange magazine, that several said was 'full of dragon dung'. But that didn't seem like a polite thing to say in front of the editor's daughter. So instead she smiled.

'Oh, so are your parents wizards, then?' she asked.

'Yes, although my mother died when I was very young,' Luna said. She had a very dreamlike voice.

Ginny couldn't imagine not having her mother around. 'I'm sorry,' she replied.

'That's OK, it was a while ago,' Luna replied. 'We don't have to talk about that.'

'What house are you hoping to be sorted into?' Ginny asked curiously. Perhaps they'd end up together.

'Well, most of my family have been in Ravenclaw, so I guess I'd like to go there,' said Luna, seeming glad for the change of subject. 'You?'

'I'm the same; everyone in my family has gone to Gryffindor. All six of my brothers. I think there's a bit of pressure to get into that house.'

'Wow,' Luna said dreamily. 'Six brothers, and they're all older than you?'

'Yeah. They've all accomplished something,' sighed Ginny. 'I've got a lot to live up to.'

'I've never had a brother or a sister,' Luna informed her. 'Sometimes I think I'd like one, but I don't get too bored. I like to talk to the Rouldaps,' she said very seriously.

'What are Rouldaps?' Ginny frowned. She'd never heard of them, even coming from a pure-blood family, so they must have been rare.

'They're little creatures, you can't see them, but you can talk to them. A bit like fairies maybe, but these can sympathise with you, not just flit around. My father's doing an article about them in _The Quibbler. _And someday, he says he'd like to go on an expedition to find Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in Norway- and he's going to take me!' Luna smiled at her.

Ginny felt a bit taken aback by that. She could understand now, why nobody had let Luna in their compartment with them, but honestly, she would have been alone right now if not for the girl's company. And she seemed nice enough, at least. She was certain though, that Crumple-Horned Snorkacks didn't exist. And she wasn't sure about Rouldaps. They probably didn't either, if she'd never heard of them.

A plump old lady came around with candies- Ginny had spent the large part of her pocket money on school supplies, but bought a box of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour beans. The two ate their candies and talked some more. It was, Ginny decided, an enjoyable trip.

'_Attention all students. We will be arriving at the station in approximately five minutes. Please be prepared to get off the train by the time it stops,' _A loud voice said. Upon hearing this, Ginny and Luna pulled their Hogwarts robes on. They took their trunks down from the shelves and sat with them nervously.

'I'm nervous,' Ginny admitted.

Luna looked slightly confused. 'What about?' She asked.

'Well, for one, I want to be in Gryffindor. Two, I don't want to be the worst in the class. Three, if I'm put in Slytherin my parents just might disown me. Four, I don't want to be all alone at Hogwarts. Five, Fred and George say Hogwarts is really big and that I'll get lost,' Ginny rattled off, panting afterwards because she had said all of this without taking a breath.

Luna nodded. 'I can understand that,' she replied. 'I suppose I'm a little worried about getting lost, but the Sorting Hat will see that you deserve to be in Gryffindor. Ultimately, I believe the choice becomes to us. Not an old hat. You needn't be worried about being friendless, even if we're in different houses. And anyone who tries hard isn't the worst in their class,' Luna's argument was very reasonable. It still didn't make her feel too much better.

The train slowed to a stop. Ginny and Luna left their trunks on the train as they were told and left the vehicle.

'Firs' years, this way! Over here, firs' years!' A booming voice shouted. Ginny recognised it as Hagrid's. Her and Luna followed the large man along with all the other first years. They stopped at a large, black lake with several canoes. 'Four to a canoe, no more!' Hagrid shouted.

Ginny clambered in with Luna, a small, mousey-haired boy, and a pretty, dark-blonde haired girl. They introduced themselves as Colin Creevey and Demelza Robins. Mostly, the four rode in terse silence, but Ginny learned that Colin was a muggle-born and Demelza was half-blood, so her acceptance letter came as no surprise.

Once the group turned a corner on their canoes, the majestic castle finally came into view. It was the grandest building Ginny had ever seen, even more so than Gringotts'. There were several towers, and turrets, a suspension bridge connecting classrooms, and probably more that she could see in the daytime. They docked their canoes at the shore and climbed out. By the time Hagrid had knocked on the large doors, her heart was pounding furiously. A stern looking woman opened them.

'Here are the firs' years, Professor,' Hagrid said.

'Thank you, Hagrid. I can take them now,' the woman replied. She opened the door wide so everyone could fit through. They were all awed by the entrance hall, three times the size of the Burrow. There were flaming torches on the walls and marble flagstones paved the floor. The professor, dressed in emerald robes, led the group into a small room off the entrance hall, where she said, 'Welcome to Hogwarts. Before you begin the start-of-term banquet in the great hall, you will be sorted into your houses. While you are here, your house is going to be your Hogwarts family. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each house is known to produce outstanding wizards. Good behaviour will earn you house points, failure to comply with the rules will do the opposite. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the house cup. I wish you all good luck at the Sorting Ceremony. You have a few minutes before I return to fetch you.' And with that, she left.

Luna had drifted off to chat with another first year, which left Ginny standing with Demelza Robins. 'Rather odd, isn't she?' Demelza Robins asked timidly, referring to Luna and hoping to start a conversation.

'She's nice,' Ginny said shortly, thinking that many would probably make fun of Luna in her time at Hogwarts.

'I know,' said Demelza quickly. 'I just heard her talking about Rouldaps or something to Colin on the way here. I'm pretty sure those don't exist.'

'She certainly is…unique,' replied Ginny hesitantly.

'What house would you like to be in?' Demelza asked.

'Gryffindor,' Ginny said right away. 'My whole family have been. You?'

'Well, my dad, the wizard, was in Hufflepuff. But I really am hoping to be a Gryffindor. He said that's where Dumbledore went!'

The group was then led by the Professor, who led them into the great hall but stopped Ginny. Demelza shot her a worried glance but continued on.

Ginny felt fear bubbling in her stomach. Was she going to be sent home?

'Miss Weasley, I must just ask you where your brother and his friend Mr. Potter are. They weren't on the train.'

'No, I don't know,' Ginny said fearfully. 'They should have gotten onto the platform right after my mum and me. We were running late, do you think perhaps they could have missed the train?'

'I don't know, but you'd better go,' Professor said. 'You're going to miss the sorting.'

Ginny bowed her head and hurried into the great hall. Several heads turned her way, but everyone was clapping, so not many noticed her. She caught up to Luna, breathless. Demelza was talking with a dark haired girl and boy.

By then, the Professor-who Luna said was McGonagall- began reading names off a piece of parchment. The student would go, place the hat on their head, and when the hat called out their house, they went and sat down at the respective table. Being a Weasley, Ginny would go close to last.

'Bren, Derrick!' Professor McGonagall said. After a few seconds, the hat shouted,

'HUFFLEPUFF!' Derrick Bren left the stage and sat down at a clapping table second from the right. Ginny could see the Gryffindor table on the far left, the twins and Percy watched eagerly.

Susie Caven became the first Slytherin and Colin Creevey was the first to get sorted into Gryffindor.

The sorting went by too quickly for Ginny's taste. George Helen went to Ravenclaw and so on, and then Luna was up.

'Lovegood, Luna!' Ginny, knowing Luna wanted Ravenclaw, crossed her fingers for her. Sure enough, the hat bellowed out Luna's desired house, and she walked over happily. A few others got sorted. Demelza Robins went to Gryffindor. Ginny gave a small smile.

A small girl with wavy dark hair also joined Gryffindor. Her name was Hailie Stratford. So far, Ginny remembered seven Slytherins, nine Hufflepuffs, eight Ravenclaws and seven Gryffindors, by the names of Hailie Stratford, Demelza Robins, Ethan Jones, Colin Creevey, May Reni, Sam Soren, and Jonathan Fess.

Tami Ugan got sorted into Slytherin and then Ginny was up. Her brothers watched excitedly. With trembling legs, she walked over to the three-legged stool and placed the old patched, frayed hat on her head like Ron had explained that summer.

'Another Weasley?' Said the Sorting Hat in her ear. 'Well, this is interesting… very interesting, but this decision shouldn't be too hard, should it? No, I can see much bravery in your future-' Ginny felt her heart leap with excitement- 'the house for you is GRIFFYNDOR!' The last word was the one the whole great hall heard, and the Gryffindor table whooped and cheered. It took all Ginny had not to jump up and down. Instead, she set the hat down and ran over to her table while her brothers thumped her on the back and, in Percy's case, said some rather pompous sounding congratulations.

'Hi,' she said breathlessly to Demelza Robins, who was talking tentatively to May Reni.

'Congratulations, Ginny,' Demelza smiled. The two clapped and cheered as Romilda Vane got sorted into Gryffindor as well. Finn and Lea Xi joined the Ravenclaw table, William Yen Gryffindor, Yvonne Young went to Hufflepuff, and finally, Brett Zeller went to the Slytherin table. After a few short notices from Dumbledore, the feast finally began.

As the four long tables filled with food, Ginny realised what felt like the most incredible thing ever: she had, after eleven years of waiting, finally gotten to Hogwarts and made it into her desired house. She had a feeling she was going to enjoy her seven years here.


	4. Very Different Indeed

**A/N: And after a few days, I update again! I'm warning whoever's reading this that i'm going camping for 8 days in two day's time so unless a miracle happens, (****which it might) I won't have chapter 5 up until then. I hope you guys enjoy it, thanks for all the feedback I've gotten!  
**

-CHAPTER 4-

_Very Different Indeed_

Ginny happily ate all the food within her sight. It was certainly a feast; there were huge tureens of stew, mashed potatoes, steak, roast beef, salads, gravy, vegetables, drinks and more. Fred and George didn't seem too worried about Ron and Harry- 'They've got owls, they'll get here-' and Percy kept ranting about how if Ginny hadn't forgotten her diary and the twins their Fillubuster Fireworks, they would've been on time- 'now really, how hard is it to remember everything?-' so Ginny eventually ignored them and talked to Demelza, who turned out to be quite nice.

'What lesson are you most looking forward to?' Demelza had asked curiously. 'Personally, I'm worried for Transfiguration, seems quite difficult.'

'Well, charms is pretty interesting, and I'd like to learn some hexes to use on my brothers-' Ginny started, and they both laughed. 'I think Potions would be interesting, but it's taught by Professor Snape.'

'So?' Demelza asked with a frown. 'Is he bad?'

'My brothers have told me all about him!' Ginny exclaimed. 'He favours Slytherin, his house. And he's supposed to be all cruel if you don't get your potions right- he seems to hate all students, especially Gryffindor ones, and above all, Harry Potter. He's my brother Ron's friend,' Ginny said, swelling with pride that she knew someone so important.

Demelza's green eyes widened. 'Harry Potter? You know Harry Potter? Wow! You're so lucky! Has he ever spoken to you?'

Ginny smiled and blushed. 'A little. Lockhart gave him his full works for free, and Harry gave them to me.'

'Maybe he fancies you!' Demelza elbowed her playfully.

Ginny felt her face turn crimson. 'No, not me! I'm just a first year.'

'Well, in any case, I'm excited for Defence Against the Dark Arts. I mean, really! We have Gilderoy Lockhart teaching us! He's fought Banshees, Ghouls, Werewolves, Hags, Yetis, Trolls, Vampires… and he's so famous! Look, he's right over there!' Ginny looked in awe at the celebrity, who was talking merrily to Professor McGonagall. She looked rather bored.

'It'll be quite the experience, learning with him,' Ginny agreed.

'It's a shame about the Potions, though,' Demelza said. 'I really think it would be so interesting, given the right teacher.' Personally, Ginny thought that, based on her brother's stories, Potions could never be fun, but took a bite of her mashed potatoes and nodded thoughtfully instead.

She looked around at the rest of the first years: all five Gryffindor boys were chatting animatedly, looking around and eating like there was no tomorrow. May Reni and Romilda Vane were talking over untouched food and giggling secretively, already best friends. Hailie Stratford, the tiny dark haired girl, picked at her meal and looked around nervously. Ginny would have bet anything that she was a muggle born, from the way her big eyes flitted back and forth from one magical wonder to the next-like the enchanted ceiling that mimicked the night sky- and how she didn't engage in any conversation.

Suddenly, the food on the tables disappeared, leaving Jonathan Fess holding onto thin air instead of a chicken leg. The feast wasn't over, though; now the gold and silver platters were piled high with dessert food. Ginny had a particular fondness for the strawberry ice-cream- it reminded her of the dessert they'd eaten on their last night at the Burrow.

Once every student in the great hall had eaten all they could, Professor Dumbledore stood up.

'I know you are surely all very tired and I will soon send you off to bed, after these short announcements.

'As you all know, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all students, hence the name. Under no circumstances are you permitted to enter. Aside from Astronomy lessons, no students are to be in the corridor after nine o'clock pm. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, would like be to remind you that no objects from Zonko's- or any other joke shop- are to be used in the school. I believe that will be all for regulations, but first I would like to introduce our new teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, who has taken up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year.'

Several students cheered and clapped-mostly girls, and Lockhart stood up and bowed. 'Thank you, thank you!' He said graciously, flashing his white teeth to the crowd. 'It's an honour to be here! I'm quite excited for this new job- it will be quite the change for me, as I've been working in the field most of my life- for more details, see my published works- Break With a Banshee, Gadding With Ghouls, Holidays With Hags, Travels With Trolls, Wanderings With Werewolves, Voyages With Vampires, Year With the Yeti and of course, my autobiography Magical Me!'

Ginny was certainly a fan- but he did seem rather full of himself. Demelza appeared to be thinking along the same lines. Professor McGonagall looked rather contempt- her nostrils flared and she regarded Lockhart superiorly.

'Thank you, professor, but before you go on I must stop you to send these students off to bed! I'm sure they will be very interested to hear about your books in your classes.'

The school took that as a cue and there was a loud scraping noise as all the benches were pushed back. Some students lined up quickly and others-mostly first years- bustled around, staying in a tight bunch. Ginny wasn't sure how everyone else felt, but now, since the feast was over, she was beginning to feel nervous for the lessons that began the next day.

'Did you hear?' Fred asked eagerly. 'Ron and Harry flew mum and dad's car to Hogwarts 'cause they missed the train!'

'How do you know _that?_' Ginny asked skeptically.

'Heard Professor Sprout telling Dumbledore about it during the sorting. Didn't you notice he was gone during part of dinner, Ginny?' George grinned.

Ginny was stumped for a moment and thought maybe Fred and George weren't messing with her, but then she realised something. 'Rubbish!' She exclaimed. 'You two weren't sitting anywhere near the front of the tables.'

'Colin Creevey told us,' said George promptly.

'Didn't you notice that three seats were empty?' Fred demanded. 'Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape! They all went to talk to Ron and Harry! They must've flown the car because they've missed the train! Don't you believe us, Ginny?'

'No,' she replied in a that-should-be-obvious voice.

'Alright, but everyone in Gryffindor house knows it's true.' The twins smirked, and then headed off.

Demelza, who had been talking to Ethan Jones, hurried back over to Ginny, flipping her hair back hurriedly. 'Ginny!' She exclaimed. 'Everyone's saying that your brother and Harry Potter flew a car to Hogwarts because they missed the train. Is that true?'

Ginny frowned. She wasn't sure now, whether this was just some big rumor her brothers had cooked up, or what. 'I don't know, she admitted. 'Guess we'll have to see.'

The group thinned considerably, and Ginny noticed that a group of students were heading off to their dormitories. She could just catch the back of Luna's head- it must have been the Ravenclaws, then. Soon, the group reached a portrait of a rather plump lady wearing a fancy dress. 'Password?' She asked.

'Listen up here, everyone!' A girl with a high pitched voice said loudly, waving her arms around as the group slowed to a stop. Ginny noticed her Head Girl badge.

Another boy with a Head Boy badge (who Percy must have been deeply jealous of) said, 'Alright, everyone! This is the Fat Lady. To get into the common room, you must tell her the password! The current password's "Wattlebird!" The password changes no more than once every three or four weeks. You may not give the password to any students not in Gryffindor!'

The portrait then swung open and everyone clambered through. Everything in the common room was cosy, from the squashy armchairs near the fire to the crackling hearth, to little tables for working draped in scarlet cloth. Almost everything was a deep red or gold, the house colours, and spiral staircases led up to the dormitories- the boy's on the left, and the girl's on the right. The Gryffindors didn't go up to their rooms, though- they all crowded together in the common room, waiting excitedly for Ron and Harry to arrive. Ginny found herself standing next to Colin Creevey and Hailie Stratford.

When the two boys, accompanied by Hermione who had gone out looking for them, finally entered the common room, everyone burst into applause and whooped. People were going up to them and congratulating them and, based on their embarrassed grins, the rumors were true. Harry caught sight of Percy's disapproving expression though, and he and Ron hastily left for the dormitories. After that, everyone dispersed into small groups and headed up the stairs. The five first year girls stuck in a tight group.

They ascended the staircase and then turned left- their room was the first one down the hall. The five names were written onto a piece of parchment that had been tacked to the door, and inside, their trunks were already there. The beds had deep red velvet drapes and small dressers.

Before she knew it, everyone was in bed. Ginny pulled her diary out of her book-bag and readied a quill.

_Dear Tom, _

_Today I got sorted. I've just arrived at Hogwarts! I'm quite excited, because I got into Gryffindor house like I was so hoping._

_That's excellent, Ginny, _Tom promptly wrote. _I was certain all along you'd make it in._

_Thanks! I really would have been so much less worried if my brothers and parents hadn't all made it in, but I got here all the same. _

_I feel awfully that you worry so much about your family pressures, _He replied. _You don't deserve that. _

_You always know what to say, _Ginny smiled as she wrote. _When I found this diary in my Transfiguration book, I never expected this._

_Well, I thought I might never find a companion to talk with. _

_Speaking of Transfiguration, classes start at nine tomorrow. I'd better go. _When Ginny closed the diary after their goodbyes, she pouted before blowing out the candle on her bedside and falling asleep.

'Ginny?' Came a timid voice. 'Ginny Weasley? Could you please get up? You're going to be late. Demelza's asked me to wake you up.' Ginny felt a finger prod her cheek very gently.

'What?' She asked in a groggy voice, and opened her eyes. A small girl with wavy dark hair and big blue eyes was poking her. Hailie Stratford.

'Oh, hi Ginny, I'm really sorry, Demelza's gone to brush her teeth, but you're going to be late for breakfast and she wanted me to wake you up.' Hailie looked scared, like she thought Ginny might lash out at her.

'It's OK, thank you Hailie, I should get ready…' Ginny hurriedly got out of bed and noticed that her robes had, overnight, been emblazoned with the Gryffindor crest and there was a red and gold scarf folded on top of them.

Ginny pulled her robes on and looked through all of her Hogwarts books. 'Which books do we take down? Percy says they don't give us our timetables till breakfast.' She asked, not knowing what to pack.

'On the notice board it says they're giving us time to go up and get our things,' Hailie Stratford replied. 'Breakfast is in ten minutes.'

Ginny dashed into the small bathroom off the dormitory and brushed her teeth and hair, splashed some water on her face, and smoothed her robes. When she left, Demelza was just about to exit the dormitory.

The two, along with Colin Creevey and Ethan Jones hurried down the stairs. Quite frankly, they had no idea where they were going, but soon caught up to a group of Ravenclaw fifth-years and followed them down. The four were mostly quiet. Ginny thought it was probably because they were all nervous for their first lessons.

In the great hall, the tables were laden with tons of food. It was practically as grand as last night's feast. Well, not quite.

Professor McGonagall was walking around handing out schedules. Ginny looked at hers-that day, she had Charms at nine o'clock, then double Herbology, after that Transfiguration and then double Flying Lessons. Flying was with the Hufflepuffs, Herbology with Slytherin, and, to her dismay, Charms and Transfiguration was with Ravenclaw, who were surely all smart.

Breakfast went by very quickly and in no time, the group of Gryffindors were headed up the stairs to fetch their book-bags. They took four wrong turns in the enormous school. It was very different indeed from the Burrow. Ginny put the four books she thought she'd need in there, along with her wand, which she fingered lovingly.

Ginny quickly found that the school was quite bizarre; one door only opened when her, Demelza and Colin Creevey all said 'please' very politely. One turned out to be a very convincingly painted wall, and another staircase was missing a step. When they finally got there, Professor Flitwick-the Charms teacher- was beginning to read names off a list. Ginny gulped and sat down, nervous but also excited for her first lesson.

**A/N: Review? Follow? Favourite? Thanks again for your support :)**


	5. First Lessons

**A/N: So I'm back again! Apologies for the horrendous wait, but at least the chapter's up now. Don't get too excited though, it's mostly a boring filler-upper. The important thing is, though, I got through my writer's block! And please keep following the story, it gets interesting in the next chapter... enjoy :)**

-CHAPTER 5-

_First Lessons_

The group sat down quickly. Fortunately, Professor Flitwick, who couldn't have been more than three feet tall, didn't notice them. Ginny had a bad feeling she'd get lost more than once this year.

'Weasley, Ginny!' Professor Flitwick said in a squeaky voice. Ginny raised her hand. Once he'd finished reading the register, he said, 'everyone, please take out _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 _and turn to page seven!'

Colin Creevey whispered to her, 'Hey Ginny, wave you met Harry Potter? Because I heard he's really famous. I heard your brother knows him.''

Ginny looked up from her book-bag. 'What? Oh-um, yeah, I do,' she smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. 'He's Ron's friend. Ron is in second year.'

Colin looked up excitedly from where he was trying to find his wand. 'Really? Because, well, I said I'd take some pictures for my dad, and… well… it'd be really good if I could get one with Harry and he could sign it. You know, because he's so famous. I should show it to dad, and this guy told me that if I develop the photo right, it'll move! Cool, eh?'

Ginny didn't think it would be cool to Harry if Colin Creevey asked him for a signed photo. Fortunately, she was spared from saying anything because Professor Flitwick said, 'Alright, everyone! Page seven tells us how to do a levitation charm! This is one of the simplest spells you will learn in wizardry, and the first thing we levitate with be a feather. I want you to all practise the swish-and-flick motion with your wands. Don't say the words yet! Simply _swish _and _flick._'

The whole class began practising. Ginny muttered under her breath, 'swish and flick' as she did the motions. After a moment Flitwick said, 'Enough with that! Now it's time to really try levitating your feathers. The words to use are _Wingardium Leviosa._ You may begin!'

The room was filled with mutters of '_Wingardium Leviosa. Wingardium Leviosa.'_ Ginny had, at first, no success. The feather rolled over on the desk once, but other than that it didn't move at all. She frowned and repeated the words.

'Wingardium Leviosa!' Colin Creevey yelled, pointing his wand angrily at the feather after five minutes of futile tries. Smoke started rising from it.

'Swish and flick,' Ginny hissed under her breath to Colin Creevey.

'Right,' replied Colin hastily as he retried the spell.

Ginny closed her eyes and concentrated on the motions, along with the words… she saw her feather levitating in her mind's eye… she raised her wand to perform the spell…

'Oh, congratulations, Boot! Terry Boot's gotten his feather up! Look, class!' Squealed the Professor, breaking Ginny's concentration. She looked up and saw Terry Boot was holding his wand shakily as the feather raised. Ginny tried the spell again and finally, finally did it- well, she got it an inch in the air before it fell, at least.

'Good job, Weasley!' Flitwick said. 'Remember, mastering the simplest spell is the way to master all spells!'

Ginny smiled gratefully and went back to her work.

Soon, the class was over and everyone packed up their bags. It was time for Herbology.

The lessons went by so quickly, the day was over before she knew it and everyone was heading to their common rooms. Ginny's homework was to read to chapters of _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _and to take notes on Snarus Pods, apparently the ' less dangerous cousin' of Snargaluff Pods. She was also supposed to study the 'anatomy' of buttons and needles- what on earth could one write about an anatomy of buttons?

Ginny headed up to the dormitory and opened her diary.

_Dear Tom, _said Ginny, _Today was our first day of lessons. We were supposed to learn how to levitate feathers, but I only got mine up at the end of class before it fell. Do you think I'll be the worst in my group, Tom?_

_Ginny! _Came the reply. _How could you say that? From talking to you, I've come to the conclusion that you're brilliant. Besides, mastering the simplest spells is the path to becoming a great wizard, _he said.

_That's like what the Professor told me! _Ginny smiled. _Do you know him? Professor Flitwick?_

_No, I don't, but I'm sure he's very smart, to be a Charms teacher. _

_I think he is, _wrote Ginny. _Did you enjoy Charms in school, Tom?_

_I particularly liked Defence Against the Dark Arts, actually, _replied the diary. _But Charms did interest me, though I found it difficult in later years._

_I just hope I do well enough to be noticed, _Ginny scrawled. _I need Harry Potter to notice me…_

_You certainly think highly of Harry Potter. But how could he not take notice of you, Ginny?_

_Tom, you're too flattering. I'm beginning to think this is a book bewitched to write compliments, _replied Ginny.

_Trust me, I am- or once was- very real. On the back of this diary it says, T.M. Riddle._

_I suppose. Well it's off to bed for me, Tom, I've got a busy week and I don't need to be late for my classes again. I couldn't find them this morning._

_Write back soon, _came the prompt reply in loopy writing. Ginny closed the book and started on her homework, still smiling at Riddle's compliments.

Ginny and Demelza Robins sat together, trying to figure out how to draw the anatomy of aneedle by the fire. She stole a few glances at Harry Potter, who was sitting with Ron and Hermione Granger. He didn't glance her way once.

In the end, they decided that the only parts of the needle were the eye and the pointed end, and on the button there was the four holes and the…rest of the button. With a sigh, they rolled up their homework and stuffed it in their bags.

The week passed surprisingly quickly. Ginny decided Herbology could be rather odd. They planted Mandrake seeds one day, and on the second lesson had to write about the healing properties of Pepperup roots. On their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, Ginny decided she rather disliked Professor Lockhart- perhaps it had to do with him handing out a quiz on, well, him.

'Don't worry about this little test- it's just to see how well you've read the books, what you've remembered. Then we'll get down to the exciting stuff!' He said as he handed out papers.

Ginny looked at the first four questions and crinkled her nose. Luna Lovegood, who sat beside her, was doing the same. The first question read,

_1 .What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour?_

_2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?_

_3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?_

_4. When did Gilderoy Lockhart's first book, Wanderings with Werewolves, get released into bookstores?_

There were three sides of paper that continued that way, Ginny realised with disgust. She tried to answer the questions as best she could, though she hadn't read Lockhart's works as much as he clearly expected. She felt a momentary flash of panic; was she going to be behind in this class? Was it going to affect all her grades? Would she fail first year? _You're being an idiot, _she told herself. Looking around, no one else seemed to be doing any better than her. Sam Soren and Jonathan Fess were snickering at the paper and stealing glances at each other, while biting their lips in order not to laugh out loud.

It was rather hard to believe that Lockhart thought they'd read, and, more importantly, remembered, all this about him. Ginny left four questions blank and answered many wrongly.

At the end of the lesson, Professor Lockhart looked at the papers disapprovingly, shaking his head.

'Well, I must say, many of you could use a little extra reading on my works. But don't worry! I'll give you that time now, and we can take another look at the quiz next lesson.' He gave a great big smile, flashing all his perfect teeth. Ginny groaned quietly. Did she really have time for all of that?

Their next lesson was with Professor Snape, who Ginny already disliked. She's heard the stories from her brothers.

In the dungeons, it was dark and cold and there were all sorts of strange items floating in colourful liquids on the shelves, a cupboard with a door ajar, a blackboard, and several rows of desks. Ginny sat down with Demelza Robins. Hailie Stratford, the timid muggle-born girl, was already talking to Romilda Vane and May Reni.

'Everyone, settle down and be quiet so we can begin,' A cold voice said from the doorway. The class looked back to see a man wearing large robes that gave the impression he was an oversize bat. He had greasy black hair, pale skin and small black eyes. Professor Snape.

'I hope this group will be more productive than the classes I've had so far,' Snape sneered, taking out a register, 'but I think not. Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors? Well.'

Ginny frowned as he began reading names. He seemed like a really, really, really nice teacher. She had a feeling she was going to dread classes with him.

'Weasley, Ginny.' Ginny raised her hand, and he smirked. 'Another Weasley?' He asked silkily. 'I hope you're smarter than your brothers.' Ginny made a face when he turned around and waved his wand. Words began to appear on the blackboard, just like in her journal.

'I expect you've all read your textbooks and are familiar with the simple Drowsiness Draught?' The class nodded. Ginny nodded with them, even though she had no idea how to make one. Nor had she ever heard of it.

'I doubt you're all telling the truth. Now. It's very simple. Instructions are on the board, ingredients in the store cupboard, you have an hour. Begin now.'

The class pushed each other to get into the cupboard, searching for the required ingredients, but Ginny eventually made her way back to her desk with everything she needed. Stirring feverishly, she squinted to see the instructions on the board through the haze of smoke from other cauldrons. Odd instructions, they were: things like stirring clockwise seven times, then counter-clockwise four times, putting an ingredient in and then taking it out after a few minutes.

Finally, she was finished, but her Drowsiness Draught was too thick, and apparently wasn't the right colour, either. Though, she didn't know what she expected from a first lesson.

Once the day's lessons were done, Ginny sat in the common room, reading _Year With the Yeti, _asking herself why she even bothered. She didn't really know why Professor Lockhart wanted them to know so much about him.

At dinner, she thought about Tom, how she hadn't written to him since last night. She needed to talk to him. Mostly tuning out everyone else, Ginny thought about how lucky she was to have the diary as her companion.

The days passed, and Tom's diary became an obsession for her. She couldn't go more than a day without talking to him, and she barely concentrated in her lessons. Anyone who knew about the diary would have said it was unhealthy.

Then, on rainy evening in early October, everything went astray.

**Please review!**

**~Sgarnett99  
**


	6. A Strange Request

**A/N: Hi, so I'm really sorry I haven't updated in so long. I honestly can't make any solid promises about when I'll be updating this story, and I'll try to write more often now that things with the story are picking up, but like I said, don't expect a new chapter every week. I'll try to have # seven up by Sunday though. **

**I have a few things to address: I missed the part in chapter 5 or 4 where Ron and Harry receive the Howler from Mrs. Weasley. I'm sorry about that, but what's past is past, if I feel like it I'll tweak the chapter so they get the Howler. Also, I realize that in this chapter Ginny kills all the roosters, and Hagrid, as it says somewhere in the book, finds them gradually, but I'm going to say that he finds them over time, even if she strangles them all at once. Next: I'd like to know if I'm not talking about the lessons enough. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, they go over a couple of lessons and such before the action picks up, but I don't want to bore you guys either, since you already know how the regular school life at Hogwarts works. **

**I think that's it! Please favourite, review, and subscribe!  
**

**~Sgarnett99  
**

-CHAPTER 6-

_A Strange Request_

The lessons passed quickly, and before Ginny knew it, it was October the first already. She had quickly become friends with Demelza Robins and Colin Creevey, who was oddly fond of Harry Potter. She wasn't aware that Harry had _fans. _Although of course, perhaps she was one. Did fancying a famous person mean one was their fan?

Of course, she was slightly less preoccupied about the Harry Potter issue when she had Tom to converse with, which she did absolutely every evening. It was becoming a scary obsession, but she didn't see anything wrong with a friendly conversation, even if it was with the ghost of a sixteen-year old boy.

Everything passed normally. In fact, no one even asked her about the diary. However, one evening, this began to spiral downhill when Tom wrote to her again.

_Ginny, _he said, _I have a rather strange request. I truly care about you and I think you trust me enough not to have any questions about this. _

She frowned at the paper and wrote, _What is it, Tom? _She did trust him. She trusted Tom more than anyone she'd ever, ever- well, no. But she had so much faith in the book, but…she didn't know. How does one 'trust' a diary?

_I need you, Ginny, and this will sound very odd, but I need you to strangle the school roosters. It sounds scary now, but it'll soon all make sense. _

Ginny stared at the diary. _He wanted her to strangle the school roosters? _She frowned. How could a diary need something that badly? Really, it was a book that wrote back. But still, if Tom had preserved part of his soul within the book, it could have emotions, or he could be writing to her from the past, he was a real person. Surely he could explain everything.

As if in a trance, she felt her fingers printing in her response. _Alright, Tom,_ she wrote. _I'll write back when I've done it. _

Ginny closed the diary before Tom could write back, and blew out the candle beside her bed, then pulled the scarlet hangings shut.

Why on earth did he want that of her? Ginny felt a strange knot in her stomach as she thought about what Tom had asked of her. She fell asleep, still pondering the diary's odd request. Still, she couldn't doubt him. Ginny was sure he had the right intentions for her and like he said, it would all make sense soon.

It was Saturday. That meant Ginny had all morning to go out and, well, do what Tom told her to. She got up and dressed purposefully before Demelza was awake, and tiptoed down the stairs. She swung the portrait door open and made her way out of the large, intimidating school into the grounds.

Around Hagrid's hut was where the chicken coops would be, she knew, so she headed down towards the Forbidden Forest, cloak wrapped tightly around her to block out the chilly air.

She could see the chicken coop in no time, right by the entrance to the Forest, and ran quickly towards it. Ginny kept looking around, afraid someone would see her and the task she was about to perform. She gulped and entered the coop, crouching. Tom's instructions had been very clear: strangle the roosters. Leave.

Ginny still had no idea why he wanted her to do such a thing. However, she knew that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her. How could she not trust him after over forty conversations? She'd written to him every night for over a month, after all. _And remember, _she told herself, _he said it would all make sense in due time. _The thoughts reassured her- though not much- as she beckoned the first rooster over. 'Here, rooster,' she said quietly, rubbing her fingers together as though there was some sort of food in them. It made its way towards her and she swallowed, having just spotting a hen that was walking around making noise in the exact fashion Harriet did, a hen at the Burrow who she'd raised since it had hatched. She'd convinced her mum not to cook that egg. _At least I don't have to strangle the Harriet chicken, _she thought in a desperate attempt to cheer herself up.

When the rooster was in her vicinity, Ginny made a desperate lunge and grabbed its neck. The rooster made awful cawing sounds and Ginny almost began to cry at having to hurt such a pathetic thing. Why did Tom want her to do this? She squeezed her hands around it even more, whispering, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," over and over again.

It was immensely hard, strangling a rooster, harder than she would have thought, what with all of the wing-flapping it did and all the awful noises it made. Ginny gritted her teeth and scrunched her nose, hoping for it to be over. Then again, there were two more to be killed after this one. And, all of a sudden, the cawing cut off abruptly. She sighed and sat back, looking at all the feathers on her clothes.

Suddenly, Ginny heard footsteps in coming close and scramble out of the coop. She knew the heavy steps had to be coming from Hagrid the groundkeeper. Hurriedly, she stood up, brushed off the feathers that she could, and tried to look like she was walking purposefully along.

Hagrid rounded the corner from his hut and said, 'Ginny Weasley! Well, didn't rekon I'd be seein' yeh 'round this time o' day, somethin' the matter?'

'Er- no, sir, er, Hagrid!' Ginny said hurriedly, brushing the rooster feathers off her robes and looking up, feeling heat creep along the back of her neck and under her armpits, as it always did when she was guilty of something.

'Why've yeh got rooster feathers all down yer front, Ginny?' Hagrid asked, peering at her oddly. She began inventing a wild explanation in her head, when she realized- _she couldn't remember._

'Er- well- I- I don't know, sir…' Ginny trailed off, frowning. Where on earth had she been for the past fifteen minutes? 'I was just exploring the grounds, because, well-er, it's such a big school, and I wanted to know- er- where everything was,' she stuttered.

'Ah, I see. Well, it ain't so warm out, I rekon yeh should come in an' have yerself somethin' to warm yeh up, now,' Hagrid replied, looking slightly skeptical of Ginny's explanation.

She followed him into the warm hut, hyperventilating internally. What had happened there? Why were there rooster feathers all over her robes, and, furthermore, why couldn't she remember how they'd gotten there? She felt panic rising in her chest and resisted the urge to vomit. She wasn't sure why this was scaring her so much, but her great Auntie Muriel was over ninety years old, and like all elderly witches, wizards and muggles alike, was losing her memory. Was this happening to Ginny already? She was only eleven!

'So, Ginny, how're yeh liking Hogwarts so far?' Hagrid asked, gesturing for her to sit down in a huge armchair and placing a big, steaming mug of tea in front of her. She sipped it cautiously, burning her tongue in the process and wincing. She shook she scary thoughts of memory loss out of her mind for the moment.

'It's nice,' she replied timidly, looking around the cosy cabin. 'I really like my lessons. I like Charms. I liked Gilderoy Lockhart, but he seems to be rather fake,' Ginny continued, knowing Hagrid wouldn't judge her. 'All we've done for the whole month so far is either reading his books, or studying drawings of Cornish Pixies. He says he'll show them to us sometime, but I'm not so sure. My brother Ron says he let some pixies loose in their class and they went wild. He says Professor Lockhart ran away and made him and Harry and Hermione clean them up,' she said with a small smile on her face.

'I don' like Lockhart so much meself, either,' Hagrid said confidentially with a small wink. 'Rather full of 'imself, inn't 'e?

'Bit, yeah,' Ginny grinned.

'So, yeh must've met Harry Potter by now, eh, e's one o' Ron's friends. I think a lotta people must think e's got a big head, but e's a nice boy,' the Gamekeeper said, sipping his tea and smiling with his beetle black eyes.

That got Ginny started. She hadn't thought of Harry much since Tom had taken over her life, but now she remembered him again, she couldn't stop gushing. 'I know!' She said with a smile. 'He's so nice to me, even though I'm younger than him. He's so good at Quidditch, too. He was playing with Ron in our field when he came to stay in the summer. He's got a Nimbus Two Thousand! I'd like to play on the Quidditch team. Harry's a seeker.' Then realising how what she'd said sounded, Ginny felt her face go crimson red and tried to sip her tea casually.

Hagrid grinned, but didn't say anything. He drank more tea and patted his big dog, Fang, on the head.

'Er- well, I'd better be going now,' Ginny mumbled, feeling very self-conscious. She got up hastily. 'Thanks for the tea, Hagrid!' She said.

'Jus' wait a mo', Ginny,' Hagrid said. 'Yer lookin' a little peaky, perhaps yeh'd like some o' Madam Pomfrey's Pepperup potion. She's makin' a fresh batch fer the cold that's goin' 'round.'

Ginny crinkled her nose. 'We studied pepperup plants in Herbology. It doesn't seem so nice.'

Hagrid shrugged. 'I'll see yeh around, Ginny.'

She nodded and opened the door. Wrapping her cloak tightly around herself once more, she ran up the frosty grounds to the castle, feeling the sharp wind against her cheeks. Now, without the distraction of watery tea and Harry Potter, her thoughts were taken over by the whole memory loss situation. She was certain she'd been doing _something _before Hagrid had found her near the chicken coop. She couldn't have just magically appeared there covered in rooster feathers. She had an odd feeling that it was somehow linked to Tom's diary, though she couldn't figure out how, and she didn't know why she'd think that.

Ginny decided that she had to put the whole episode out of her mind. Ever since Tom had taken over her thoughts, she'd been neglecting her friends more and more, and she figured it was high time to actually talk to them. Besides, Ginny needed something to wash away the bland taste of Hagrid's tea.

Ginny stepped into the Great Hall, making a beeline for the Gryffindor table when she spotted Demelza and Colin sitting together.

'Hi,' she said, sliding in beside Demelza and taking a plate.

'Ginny,' Demelza replied. 'Where were you? You weren't in your bed when I woke up, I figured you were either outside or had been murdered,' she said, her mouth full of eggs.

'First one,' she replied. 'Besides, who would murder me?'

'You know you've got rooster feathers on your shirt, Ginny?' Colin asked in his high pitched voice.

'Er- yeah, thanks, Colin,' Ginny said. 'I honestly don't know how those got there, please don't ask.'

'Visiting the chickens, were you?' Demelza giggled.

Ginny laughed and shrugged. Realising she was starving, she filled her plate and began eating, still feeling fear prickling at the back of her mind from the whole memory loss incident earlier.

It began to rain, so the Gryffindor common room was packed as the whole house sheltered itself from the storm, catching up on homework, reading, or practicing spells. Ginny and Demelza sat in the corner at a table by the fire (sadly, the comfortable armchairs had been taken) as they wrote a paper for charms.

Dipping her quill in her ink, Demelza said suddenly, 'You don't look so well, Ginny.'

Ginny frowned. 'Hagrid said the same thing this morning. He saw me in the grounds. Said I should take some pepperup potion from Madam Pomfrey, but after learning about those pepperup plants, I'm a little hesitant.'

'True,' Demelza said with a laugh, 'Though I don't think it would hurt. You think you're getting a cold?'

Ginny shrugged, not seeing why it mattered so much. First Hagrid, now Demelza? She got back to her homework with a sigh.

The afternoon drifted into evening and Ginny sighed, knowing the whole Saturday had been wasted because of the rain. She didn't mind the dreary weather, though. It brought back memories of cosy winters in at the burrow, reading while listening to the radio as her mother cooked. At dinner, fabulous food was served in the great hall and Ginny stopped for a moment, amazed, when she realised that she hadn't spoken to Tom all day. Something was holding her back, though she didn't know what. She frowned at her bowl of soup, wondering what it could be. She knew, also, in the back of her mind, that there was some task she needed to accomplish. Ginny ate her supper in silence, still running the events of the morning through her mind.

That night, the girl's dormitory fell asleep listening to rain drumming against the windows. Ginny lay wide awake, knowing there was something she needed to do, and still trying to remember it.

Suddenly, she bolted upright. Throwing the sheets off her and pulling the scarlet hangings open, Ginny pulled her cloak over her nightgown and pulled on shoes, in a haste to get out the door. Part of her brain kept asking where she was going, the other insisted it was important, wherever it was leading her. She swung the portrait door open and ran down the stairs, trying to avoid all sounds that could be coming from Filch the caretaker or, possibly even worse, Peeves the Poltergeist, whom she'd heard much about from her brothers.

Ginny, thankfully having dodged any teachers, slipped out the doors and ran into the rainy night. Drops of water pounded against her face and fear of the utter blackness made fear swell in her chest. The small part of her that still had the ability to think properly remembered the first spell she'd ever looked at. '_Lumos,' _Ginny whispered, and the tip of her wand lit up. She used it to guide her to the chicken coop, and then crouched down to step inside. As if in a trance, she grabbed a rooster and tightened her fists around it. Some force, greater than Ginny herself, killed the rooster in seconds and she went to the other one. She imagined she looked quite mad, shaking and wide-eyed and wet as she killed the rooster. After a minute, it dropped dead and she shoved the rooster corpses into the back of the coop. Then she ran, through the muddy grounds and up the hill, shaking from cold as well as fright. She made her stealthy way up to the common room and into her dormitory. Then she collapsed on her bed, wondering what force could possibly drive her to- to what?

She stripped off her wet cloak quietly and hung it over the furnace, whispered '_Nox,' _into her wand and pulled the hangings shut. For the second time that day, she couldn't remember where she'd been minutes ago, but she knew she was outside. And once _again, _there were rooster feathers all over her clothes! Was someone getting her to do something and then erasing her memory? The thought of it all made her scared, more so than she'd ever felt.

It was time to write to Tom again. The voice inside of her head that was saying to ignore the diary had vanished. She needed a comforting voice, someone to convince her that everything was alright. And Tom was just the person. Ginny lit her wand again and opened the little black book, dipping her quill in an inkpot and writing,

_Dear Tom, today something odd and scary happened. _The ink vanished in seconds.

_Ginny, _the swirly writing replied, _I`m so glad you wrote back. I was beginning to worry. What happened? _Ginny smiled. Tom had been worrying about her! She wrote back immediately.

_Well, today I went down to Hagrid the gamekeeper's hut, but the odd thing is, I don't remember what happened. I was by the chicken coop, and I had rooster feathers all down my front but I don't remember how they got there. I really do hope I'm not already losing my memory like my great auntie Muriel, because she's completely insane and I don't want to end up like her. I'm only eleven, after all. _

There was a definite pause before Tom replied. _I'm sure you'll be fine, Ginny. You were probably just walking around the grounds, exploring like any first year. Sometimes when people are stressed they forget things, is there anything bothering you?_

Ginny frowned. What a silly question! Of course there was something bothering her- this whole feathers/ memory loss episode. She replied simply, _I had better get to sleep, Tom, it's late. I'll write back to you tomorrow. _

After their parting words, she snapped the book shut and placed it in the top drawer of her dresser. She then put out her wand once more and fell into a fitful sleep, still wondering about the day's events and hoping that she wasn't going mad.

**Thanks for reading :)**


	7. A Visit to the Past (and Some Pepperup)

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm back after a terribly long wait! I'm so sorry, but with school and activities starting up again I just didn't have time for quality writing. I hope you can forgive me.**

**Also, cool news: I'm participating in a very cool type of Hunger Games story: A 24 author collaboration! It's titled Fourteen. If you don't know what a 24 author collab is: basically, 24 authors are given a tribute from each district and they each write about their own tributes in one story. Kind of like a SYOT. (Which is 'toys' spelled backwards, by the way :) ) I'm writing the District Eleven girl. Fourteen hasn't been published yet, but in the meantime you can find the first of the series, titled Thirteen, in my favourite stories :) Please check it out!  
**

**I hope you guys like this chapter. With winter break coming up, more writing should be up soon.  
**

**~Sgarnett99  
**

-CHAPTER 7-

_A Visit to the Past (And a Dose of Pepperup)_

Ginny woke up the next morning, trembling with the thought of yesterday on her mind. Tom's words had comforted her in the slightest, but everything still troubled her. She opened the diary again.

_To write in it, or not to write in it? _She thought, feeling a troubling connection between the diary and the memory loss incident. It was just impossible to shake the thought that the diary had something to do with whatever she had done yesterday.

_Impossible, _Ginny thought with a shake of her head. She didn't even know what she had _done _yesterday, much less how it all connected to Tom. She opened the little black book, dipped a quill in her ink, and began writing.

_Dear Tom, _she scrawled in her not-so-neat handwriting, _strange things happened yesterday. _

When the ink vanished, writing replied, _Ginny! I was beginning to think you were ignoring me. What was keeping you?_

_I don't really know how you could help me with this, _wrote Ginny, feeling more foolish than the time Fred and George tricked her into almost eating a pancake with a gnome stuck in it (there had been a great deal of screaming as she bit into the gnome's finger and realised what Fred and George had done), _but yesterday I had rooster feathers all down my front and I don't know how they got there. It happened twice, in the morning and at night, all of a sudden my memory went blank. Both times I had, of all things, rooster feathers all over my robes. I realise it sounds stupid, I do, but I feel like this diary and that incident are connected somehow. It's some, I don't know, odd gut feeling. Do you ever get those, Tom? Please tell me if you know what's going on._

_Ginny, you asked me about this yesterday evening, _came the immediate reply. _Honestly, you shouldn't worry yourself about this. It probably wasn't important in any case, and how would that be linked to me and this book? I'm just a ghost trapped in a diary after all, but I'll try my best to console you._

Even though she knew Tom couldn't see her, and was sure he didn't think she was stupid, Ginny's cheeks turned scarlet red and she reprimanded herself for being such an idiot. With a sigh, she scrawled a quick reply. _Right, I'm sorry, I'm just being silly. I just can't seem to jog the memory, and I can't seem to put the situation out of my mind, either. It's really frustrating._

Tom replied, _I can imagine. But try to forget about the whole issue. I'm certain everything will make sense in no time. _

_I'll do my best. Thanks, Tom, for always being here. I really do appreciate the fact that you'll sit and listen to my lame issues, but I should go. I have breakfast to eat. _And it was true, she did appreciate the fact that there was one person on the planet who was seemingly so patient, he would sit and sympathise with her frivolous dramas.

It was Sunday, meaning she couldn't have lessons to distract her. She would even take a Potions class right now, if it could take her mind off the whole memory loss situation and the unnerving connection between yesterday and T.M Riddle's diary.

With a sigh, she stood up and exited her dormitory, dragging her feet. Demelza and Colin, it seemed, had already gone down for breakfast. The common room was mostly empty; Ginny figured most people would be down at breakfast.

Ginny made her way down to the Great Hall without getting lost once, swelling with pride when she realised she hadn't even been tricked by Peeves the Poltergeist. She was so pleased with herself, in fact, that for a second she contemplated how she would casually bring it up in front of her brothers so that she could brag. _Not that they would care… they've all made it down to breakfast fine thousands of times, _she thought, sighing and quickening her pace when she spotted Colin and Demelza talking excitedly to each other over large plates of food. They were taking advantage of Hogwarts' wonderful food and hardworking house-elves, as everyone did.

'There you are, Ginny!' called Colin excitedly in his high-pitched voice. 'Hurry up, the food'll all be gone or cold!'

Ginny sat down with the two other first-years and spooned eggs onto her plate. 'You two look excited,' she remarked through a mouthful of food.

'Demelza was telling me about Hallowe'en here!' Colin exclaimed. 'It sounds brilliant!'

'It is,' replied Demelza, looking amused. 'Or so I've heard.'

'Yeah, my brothers have told me about it,' Ginny replied unenthusiastically, feeling a sudden urge to go back to her tranquil dormitory and write to Tom. She was looking forward to Hallowe'en, though. Hagrid had begun growing pumpkins to decorate the Great Hall for the occasion and they were already almost as big as Ginny. She suspected he was using magic, even though his wand had been snapped in half years ago- he'd kept the pieces in his umbrella. Ron had told her about that. She couldn't blame him for still wanting to use magic, though; she would, too. Supposedly, large designs were carved in them and huge candles were lit, then the pumpkins were placed all around the Hall. And according to her brothers, the feast was fabulous. Although this was no surprise. It was Hogwarts, after all.

Hopefully Ginny actually be able to remember the feast after it happened.

Which, of course, got her worrying about yesterday's debacle again.

She knew she was overthinking it, but really, what on earth was going on? And why did she feel so strongly that it was related to Tom and his talking book? Ginny felt that at some point, all of the puzzle pieces would click into place, and that she'd find the missing one, and then she would realise what was going on. But until then, she just had to keep wondering.

'You guys, I don't feel so well. I'm going to go back upstairs to the dormitories, maybe get some rest,' Ginny said suddenly, getting up.

'A-Alright,' replied Demelza, looking concerned. "Do you need to go to Madam Pomfrey, perhaps? You look rather pale.'

'I'll be fine. I just need rest,' Ginny replied forcefully, walking away, determined to get to Tom and her diary. She needed to talk to him badly.

Ginny was walking up the third flight of stairs when she heard Percy's pompous voice calling, 'Ginny! Ginny!' With a contempt eye roll, she turned around.

'What is it, Percy?'

'You don't look well,' he replied, 'and I think you'd be best taking some of Madam Pomfrey's potion.'

'Perce, leave me alone,' Ginny replied exasperatedly. 'I'm fine. I don't have a cold.'

'You've looked sick since the start of the month and I haven't said anything, but without mum here, I must step in.'

'No! I'm alright.'

'You're not, Ginny, and you'll come with me now. I don't want you getting sick, or mum will have a right fit at me when she finds out.'

'Mum won't find out, what are you talking about?' Ginny protested, but she found herself being marched all the way down to the hospital wing.

'Ginny, give it a rest, this won't hurt you,' sighed Percy.

'Fine,' protested Ginny sullenly as they reached Madam Pomfrey's office.

'Well, what a pleasure this is,' Madam Pomfrey smiled kindly as Percy knocked on the door. 'What brings you here, mister Weasley?'

'It's my sister,' Percy replied, while Ginny crossed her arms. 'She's looking peaky and I think she could use some of your pepperup potion.'

'Very well, don't want to get sick now, do we?' The nurse said absently as she rummaged through a cabinet. She then pulled out a measuring spoon and a corked vial and warned, 'this will burn a little going down your throat, dear. But it helps.'

'I hate you, Percy,' mumbled Ginny as Madam Pomfrey poured the potion onto the spoon. Steam rose up from it as if it were dry ice.

'Go on then, dear, drink up,' the nurse urged, and Ginny She quickly slurped down the concoction and almost regurgitated it. The firey drink went down her throat and she coughed, thinking of all the profanities she would send at Percy when she could talk again.

'Ugh….' She groaned. 'I think I might heave…'

'Come again!' Madam Pomfrey called cheerfully, waving as Percy lead his sister out.

'Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?' Said Percy cheerfully.

'Yes it was!' Ginny exclaimed. She lifted a hand to her ear and exclaimed, 'I've got steam exiting my ears! _This _was why I didn't want to do this, Percy!'

'Oh, it's fine. You'll feel better in the morning,' he replied dismissively, and then strode off.

'I was never sick!' She yelled.

Fuming, Ginny stormed down the hall, hoping no one would see her. Of course it was her fate, though, that she should meet two first year Slytherins.

'Hey, Weasley!' One of them called. 'Is your head on fire?'

Ginny was overcome with a strong impulse to give the two a rude hand gesture that would have made her mother faint, but instead she ducked her head and walked by quickly.

'Ginn! Is that you?' A familiar voice called. Ron.

'Yes, it is me, now go away,' Ginny said, not knowing where the voice was coming from.

'Did Perce force you to have some of Pomfrey's potion?' Ginny turned around to see her brother and Hermione. She caught Ron whisper, 'wait 'till Harry sees this.'

'Ron!' Hissed Hermione. 'It's _Madam _Pomfrey. Not just Pomfrey!'

'Yes he did,' Ginny replied, and then ran up the stairs, through the Gryffindor common room, and into her dormitory, where she pulled the hangings shut quickly. She buried her face into her knees.

_Dear Tom, _she scribbled frantically, and without waiting for his reply, she launched into a rant.

_Everything is going horribly. First there's this whole memory loss situation that I can't explain, and now Percy has forced me to take a potion that makes steam come out of my ears. Do you know how bad that is for redheads? Ron saw me and now I know he'll tell Harry all about it. I've no chance of getting Harry to like me now! And two Slytherins were making fun of me. Nobody likes me Tom, nobody except Demelza Robins and Colin Creevey. _

_Calm down, Ginny, I like you very much, _the diary replied in neat, loopy letters. _Too bad about those other students. Honestly, they're too hard on us Slytherins. Some of us are quite __nice. _Ginny frowned. Tom Riddle, a past Slytherin student?

_I didn't know you were a Slytherin, _she wrote. _I always imagined you to be from Gryffindor, for some reason. _

_Yes, well, Gryffindor does seem to be the place to be, _replied Tom. Ginny frowned, not sure what to say next, when more writing appeared. _Ginny, I need to show you something. It's very important. It's a scene from the past. This book does magical things, after all. I can show you what Hogwarts looked like fifty years ago. _

Ginny gasped involuntarily. He could? _All right, _she wrote slowly, not even registering the fact that she should be scared. Then, however, she frowned. This was completely unrelated to what they had been discussing before.

_A little square of light will appear in the top corner of the page. Look straight into it, and you'll be transported back to my past. You'll notice me right away- I'll be the only one there. _

Ginny nodded without realising he wouldn't be able to see her. Like Tom had said, a tiny yellow square of light did appear on the yellowed pages, right above the date for October the thirty-first. She peered into the bright light and suddenly felt a tugging sensation, and then felt herself falling.

Surprisingly enough, Ginny landed on her feet. She stood in a room that looked as though it were some house's common room and noticed everything was in black and white. She frowned. Was she dreaming?

And there he was.

Tom Riddle was a striking, old-fashioned looking sixteen year old with black hair and (though it was hard to tell) pale skin. His robes bore the Slytherin crest. "Tom!" Ginny cried, and hugged him. She felt, however, her arms pass right through the boy as if her were a ghost. "Tom?" She asked. He didn't look down. With a shrug, Ginny followed him out of the (presumably Slytherin) common room.

Torches lit up the dungeon hallways, indicating it was night time. Curiously, Ginny pursued the boy through the hallways, down deserted corridors. He stopped at a bathroom- a girl's bathroom. Ginny frowned as he peeked inside, and then entered. Why on earth was he going to the girl's lavatory at night, and why had he wanted to show her _this? _

Tom, however, didn't enter a stall. He walked up to a sink, and, eyes frantically darting around the bathroom as if someone were about to attack him, ran his slim fingers along the sink. Ginny squinted, finally noticing a little snake. Tom pressed down on it.

He let a horribly strangled hissing sound escape his throat. Ginny watched in awe as the sink moved forwards, the metal scraping against concrete and making a terrible noise. Wonderstruck, she saw a tube, a slide of sorts.

Tom Riddle had found a secret passageway in the school.

She hopped into the tube right after T.M Riddle and resisted the urge to scream as she sped through the tunnel. It didn't occur to her that it didn't matter because no one would hear.

With a thud, Ginny landed on the ground and looked in horror at the bones littered all around this strange underground room. Tom was already standing up, brushing himself off and setting off towards the end of the cavern. She quickly followed him and found herself in front of a metal door covered in snakes. Tom made the exact same hissing sound he had when opening the tunnel, only this time the trapdoor opened. It caused Ginny to cringe.

Then she realised.

Tom must have been speaking Parsletongue.

With a shrug, she followed him through it. Tom was a nice, good person.

Of all the things that had surprised her that day, this was by far the most incredible, for some reason. Ginny and Tom were standing in a long, grand hall a hundred feet under the school. At the end of the hall stood a figure with a long beard and robes, carved out of green marble. Its mouth was wide open.

'What are you doing, Tom?' Whispered Ginny, although she knew she wouldn't be heard.

He spoke in the creepy snake language again, only this time, he formed different sounds.

With horror, Ginny watched as Tom shielded his eyes and a large snake slithered out of the marble man's mouth. The creature was about five feet high and forty feet long. Its yellow eyes bore straight through her soul. She stepped back, terrified. There was a reason Tom wasn't looking at this creature.

It had to be a basilisk.

A snake.

He had been speaking the snake language.

Tom Marvolo Riddle had unleashed a basilisk.

Tom, looking strangely satisfied ran down the hall as fast as he could, through the trapdoor and through the bone-littered cavern. Ginny followed him, panicked, wondering how she was going to escape this past vision. He stepped into the tunnel and whispered something else in parsletongue, looking back frequently to make sure the basilisk was no longer pursuing him.

Ginny watched as the chute flattened out and with the loud sounds of shifting concrete, formed itself into a staircase.

_Well, I suppose you can do anything with magic, _thought Ginny, and climbed the staircase. She was beginning to feel fear. How _was_ she going to get back?

'Tom, get me home!' Ginny exclaimed.

To her great surprise, he turned around and looked straight at her. And then she felt herself being pulled away, saw only a bright light, and, with a thump, landed on her bed again.

The diary sat innocently on her bed.

Through her confusion, Ginny was able to make sense of two things.

One, that Tom Riddle had set a monster on the school.

Two, that now she had to do the same.

**What do ya think? I know this a shorter chapter, but at least it's a chapter...**


	8. Enemies of the Heir, Beware

**A/N: You must have thought I had abandoned this! Well, nope, I'm hoping to update once a week now, maybe once every other week. I hope this chapter does you justice, it's a bit shorter, but it did delete four times and I was starting to lose my patience. Please review!**

**~Sgarnett99**

-CHAPTER 8-

_Enemies of the Heir, Beware _

Tom set a monster on the school fifty years ago.

Tom set a _basilisk_ on the school fifty years ago.

'_Have you ever heard of basilisks, Ginny?' Fred asked, eyes glinting. _

'_No,' six year-old Ginny shook her head, looking up at her older brother excitedly. Fred always had good stories to tell. _

'_Well… They're monsters that are fifty feet long, thirty feet around, the shape of a huge, huge snake. One look from them could paralyse you. They prey on little girls…'_

'_Little girls like me?' Ginny had asked frightfully. _

'_Yes. Exactly like you. There's one rumoured to be living at Hogwarts!' George filled in. _

_When Ginny screamed, Mrs. Weasley stormed in, exclaiming, 'Fred! George! Stop terrorising your little sister and go do something productive! Like Percy!' _

Ginny knew, always, that that couldn't be true. She was certain that basilisks didn't exist, and that Fred and George had just been trying to scare her with the legend. She'd read plenty about them in Bill's old copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, _but had never believed they were anything more than a myth. But after the encounter with Tom, after the visit to the past, she wasn't so sure.

Tom wanted her to set the monster on the school once again. He hadn't said so exactly, but she was sure that was it. She just _knew. _Truthfully, Tom Riddle and his diary were a part of Ginny now. She knew what he was thinking, and he probably knew the same about her.

Ginny picked up the now foreboding black book and dipped her quill in a pot of ink. She opened the book and wrote, _Tom, I'm confused. What just happened? Why did you show me that? Did you really set a basilisk on the school fifty years ago?_

As per usual, Tom replied immediately. _Ginny, I believe you know why I showed you this. And you know what you must do now, right? _

Ginny shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Why did Tom want her to do this? Why was it so important to him?

_Ginny… I know you must be so confused right now. But the school is tainted. It's tainted with terrible, terrible people. The basilisk will rid Hogwarts of scum and we will be pure again. _

_It sounds an awful lot like you're talking about muggle-borns, _Ginny wrote back skeptically.

_Ginny, _replied Tom, _you have to do this for me. Please. I've taught you how to open the chamber in the hopes that you will make Hogwarts a better place. Please._

With a sigh, Ginny realised that this was something she had to do for her friend. Even though she was scared, even though she didn't know what she was doing really, she knew that she had to help him. He had done so much for her, comforting her when no one else could, and she could do this to repay him, couldn't she? He wouldn't do anything to hurt her. It was _Tom Riddle. _The kindest Slytherin to ever exist, in her opinion.

_Alright, Tom, _Ginny wrote back, stomach clenched. _I'm sure it'll be OK. I trust you._

_Thank you, Ginny. I knew you would do this for me._

She could almost smell Tom's satisfaction through the book. It made her uneasy.

And yet, she wasn't sure why.

* * *

'Good afternoon, class,' Professor McGonagall's voice echoed throughout the Transfiguration classroom. 'Today, we will move onto more challenging objects- you will learn to Transfigure a slug into a stone. This is still a very simple lesson because slugs are non-vertebrates and therefore have less matter. It is also much simpler to turn living things into non-living things than living things to other living things- however, it is your first day using animate objects and I expect you to use utmost care when working.'

'Ginny?' Demelza looked at her friend. 'Are you alright? You seem rather sick, like. You've been a little off since yesterday.'

'I'm fine, Demelza,' smiled Ginny. 'Just a bit of a cold, that's all, but I took some pepperup potion. I'll be alright.'

'You seem sick,' she commented as Hailie Stratford passed around slugs.

Ginny knew why she didn't feel well- she was going to open the legendary Chamber of Secrets tomorrow. That was what Tom had done, and she knew it; he had gone to the Chamber of Secrets and set a basilisk on the school. Charlie, Fred and George had told her plenty of stories about the place when she was a child.

Now, she knew the rumours were true.

Sixty boring minutes of Transfiguration passed and Ginny tried to turn her slug into a stone, to no avail. Finally they were freed and sent to Charms, however, the diary still on her mind. 'Remember, class, tomorrow is Hallowe'en, so you have the day off! Classes will recommence on Monday,' McGonagall informed the group. 'Your homework is to write one foot of reflection on this class, how you think you did and what you shall improve for next time. You may use pages thirty and thirty one for reference.'

_What was she going to do?_ That question coursed through the youngest Weasley's mind all day as she went from class to class. In potions she managed to burn her potion, earning a good verbal smack from Snape, and in Hebology her _Venus Tarantacula _escaped its pot and managed to coil around Colin Creevey's arm, giving him a rash and a good scare.

All day, her mind wandered. All day, she feared the prospect of tomorrow. And when she got back to the Gryffindor common room, she bolted towards the diary, ignoring the looks from Demelza.

_Dear Tom, I'm scared, _Ginny began. _I know you want me to set a basilisk on the school and I know you want me __to open the Chamber of Secrets- but how do I do so? Why do you want to 'purify Hogwarts?' What if I forget how you did it?  
_

_Ginny, you mustn't worry yourself so. I have faith in you. I have trust. Please do this for me, I'm doing a favour for the school and you have what it takes to be the Heir of Slytherin. I wouldn't ask this of you if I didn't believe you would remember the incantation, if I didn't believe you would be able to.  
_

She frowned. _I want to help you, Tom, but... _Ginny trailed off. But what? He wanted to do her a favour and she had already said she would. She knew the words he had hissed in parsletongue by heart. _Alright, I'll do it, _she wrote resignedly.

_Thank you, Ginny. And how did you know what the Chamber was called? You must be very smart. _

_My brothers told me. _Smiling in spite of herself, Ginny scrawled a quick goodbye.

She would do what Tom wanted. She would purify the school, whatever that meant, and all would be well.

* * *

'Ginny...' Percy Weasley's voice floated across the common room to where Ginny sat, doing her homework at an armchair with Demelza.

'Hey, Perce. What is it?'

'Well, the thing is, Ginny, Fred and George blew up a toilet in the Charms corridor-' Demelza snickered into her palm- 'and I'm not sure how to tell mum.'

'Don't tell mum! She'll have a right fit, she will!'

'Well, that would be against my morals. It's not right.'

'Oh relax, Percy,' Ginny gave an eye roll. 'It's not a big deal, they were having some fun, that's all.'

'Those two shouldn't be able to get away with these things! Soon they'll be robbing Gringotts, for all I know, and you'll say: "they were just having some fun, that's all." I can't let this happen! Never mind, Ginny. I shouldn't have asked you for your advice.'

With that, Percy strode away. _How is it even possible for him to be a Weasley? _Ginny thought, frowning.

* * *

The next day was Hallowe'en. Students milled about the common room with nothing to do, all lessons being cancelled, and Ginny wrote to Tom whilst Demelza and Colin played wizard's chess on her father's old set. They didn't talk of the Chamber being opened by Ginny, or of the basilisk being set free, simply of everyday life. Tom assured her that soon she'd be noticed by Harry and she told him someday they would meet each other for real. It was a nice, simple conversation.

That evening, however, Ginny grew scared. She didn't go to the feast. 'You go,' she told Demelza and Colin. 'I don't feel well.'

As soon as the common room had emptied, Ginny tucked her diary into her robes and hurried down the staircase to the out of order girl's bathroom, as Tom had done in the vision. She was on the verge of tears, knowing she was about to unleash a monster in the school, and kept telling herself, _it's alright. Tom wouldn't do anything to hurt you. _

Into the bathroom. To the third sink from the left. Say the words. Down the chute. She was doing the steps in robotic motions as if possessed by some greater force.

In the Chamber itself was littered with bones, just like in the vision Tom Riddle had shown her. She made her way through the cavern and up to the trapdoor where she, once again, hissed the words Tom had shown her.

How did she even know this? Ginny wasn't a parstletongue. It confused her, but the words were branded into her brain.

The Great Hall, lined with marble snakes, lead to the huge statue of a man, presumably Slazar Slytherin.

When Ginerva Weasley called for the basilisk, Slytherin's marble mouth opened and Ginny ran, shielding her eyes. If her brother's stories were true, this terrible monster that Tom wanted her to unleash could paralyse her in a second.

Back down the hall she ran, over rocks and bones that looked terribly human. When she reached the chute, the smooth stone molded into stairs and she ran, knowing her mission was complete, wanting to be as far away from the monster as she could. She didn't know why she had agreed to do this, why she had gone to the Chamber of Secrets and set free a monster that could kill innocent students. Ginny felt like a monster.

When she finally reached the top of the staircase and exited the out of order bathroom, Ginny collapsed, panting. She opened the diary, realising with dismay that she had no ink and no quill to write with.

And then, several words, Tom's words, appeared on their own.

_Well done, Ginny. But there's one last step. _

When the black ink faded, more words appeared. _In blood, so they can't wash it away, write: The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware. _

Eyes fixed on the careful handwriting in horror, Ginny pulled her wand out of her pocket and muttered, '_Secares_.'

Blood pooled up around her wrist and she pressed her trembling fingers in it, staining them red, and then began to create letters on the stone wall in front of her.

After several minutes of writing on the wall, Ginny stepped back to admire her handiwork.

_The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware. _

What had she _done?_


End file.
